At What Cost?
by IcedHeat
Summary: What price freedom? S7, SJ
1. Chapter 1

Title: At What Cost?

Chapter: 1 of ?

Email: How much does it cost to keep saving the world?

Category: Action/Adventure/Romance

Rating: Teen

Pairing: S/J

Season: 7

Spoilers: After _Fallen_, before any of the major changes inflicted by _Chimera _and _Heroes_.

Content Warnings: None

Archive: My Site: Yes

SamandJack: Yes

Anywhere else: Yes

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's Note: I know the whole 'kids through the Stargate' thing has been done a thousand times, but this just popped into my head and I couldn't resist.

"Unauthorised off world activation! Unauthorised off world activation!"

General Hammond entered the control room at a pace that was slightly too fast for his frame. "What's going on, Sergeant? Close the iris!"

"I can't sir!" Harriman replied, sounding slightly panicked. He leaned forwards and spoke into the mic. "Manual iris control!"

As one of the gateroom SFs ran for the manual iris control, SG-1 entered the control room.

"Sir?" O'Neill asked, looking at Hammond.

"I don't know, Colonel." Hammond said, staring down at the gateroom.

Suddenly the lights blinked once and went out.

"Power's down!" Harriman informed them.

Carter sat down in a seat at the control console, illuminated only by the incoming wormhole.

"Asgaard?" Daniel asked.

Jack shrugged.

"Manual iris control isn't functioning, sir!" The SF yelled up towards the control room, his voice distorted by the glass.

Without speaking, Jack and Teal'c headed down the stairs and into the gateroom.

Taking weapons from two of the SF's on guard outside, they stepped into line with the armed men who were all aiming at the Stargate.

Suddenly, the event horizon rippled.

Two figures stepped through.

Two very… odd figures.

One was a small human girl of about seven years old. She was holding the hand of a boy of about ten.

The girl had long, curly hair, either very light brown or dark blonde in colour, and dark brown eyes.

The boy had messy brown hair and deep blue eyes.

The Stargate shut down and the lights came back on.

"Full power restored, sir." Carter told the General, who was staring out the observation window at the two children.

The little girl looked scared. Her gaze wandered over the assembled military personnel, finishing on Jack.

"Daddy!" She squealed letting go of the boy's hand and starting down the ramp.

The gateroom SF's raised their weapons.

"Stand down!" The boy yelled before either Jack or General Hammond could speak. He spoke with such authority that he was obeyed before the airman had time to think.

Before they could collect themselves, the boy stepped forwards and picked the girl up from where she had stopped at the SF's movement.

She was crying.

"Shh. S'okay, Gracie. Ignore the bad men." The boy said softly, stroking the girl's hair.

"I don't want you, Jake. I want daddy." The girl told him sulkily.

The boy rolled his eyes.

Jack was still staring at the children as General Hammond entered the gateroom, followed by Daniel and Carter.

"Mom-" The girl yelled, before the boy clamped his hand over her mouth.

"Not now, Gracie." He said quietly.

"What the hell's going on?" Jack asked, staring at the children.

"Finally recovered that equilibrium, dad?" The boy asked sarcastically. "You wanna tell them to stop pointing those weapons at a couple of kids?"

"Stand down." Jack said absently.

"Colonel O'Neill?" General Hammond asked. "Are you sure about this?"

"No, sir. Carter, you wanna check 'em?"

"Colonel!" Hammond snapped.

"C'mon, dad, tow the line." The boy muttered.

"With your permission, General?" Jack said, ignoring the kid.

Reluctantly, General Hammond nodded.

Sam moved towards the kids. "I have to check you," she began.

"We know the drill, mom." The boy said quietly, so that only Sam could hear.

Her eyes widened.

"Jake!" The little girl whined. "Let me down!"

He loosened his hold on her and she slid the short distance to the ground.

Sam barely had time to register the fact that the girl had moved before she found the girl in her arms.

"Major!" Hammond snapped.

"Yessir." She said, gently pushing the little girl back slightly. "What's your name, sweetie?" She asked.

The little girl looked like she was about to cry and looked up at her brother. "Jake?"

"S'okay, Gracie. We talked about this, remember?"

"Gracie?" Sam said. "Is your name Grace?" She asked, looking at the little girl.

"Mm hmm." The girl said, sticking her thumb in her mouth.

"I have to check you, Grace, is that okay?"

The girl nodded and began to twist tiny fingers in her long curls.

Sam frisked the girl as gently as she could, finding nothing.

"Your turn… Jake, is it?" Sam asked.

The boy nodded, suddenly quiet.

She repeated her search and again found nothing.

She stood and brushed her pants off. "Nothing, sir." She told Hammond, who nodded.

"Happy now?" Jake said, looking at Jack.

Jack shrugged and turned to General Hammond, "Briefing room, sir?"

When they were all assembled in the briefing room General Hammond asked the question on everybody's mind.

"Who are you children?"

"You mean you can't guess, sir?" Jake said.

"Watch your mouth, kid." Jack warned.

Jake glared at him. "Why should I?"

Grace poked her brother in the arm. "Don't talk to daddy like that, Jake."

"Jack is your father?" Daniel asked.

"Yes." Jake said.

"I am not." Jack said.

"No, you're not. The other you is." Jake said.

"What?" Jack asked.

"Alternate reality." Sam said quietly.

Jake nodded.

"Did we not destroy the quantum mirror, GeneralHammond?" Teal'c asked.

Before Hammond could answer Jake said, "Teal'c, you're smarter than that."

"There was more than one mirror." Teal'c said.

"Got it in one." Jake said.

"So… what happened?" Jack asked.

Jake's features changed suddenly. He sent Jack a dark look. "What happened? You couldn't save them, that's what happened." He growled.

"Jake…" Grace said, tugging at her brother's sleeve. He ignored her.

"Couldn't save who?" Jack asked.

"Anyone! Uncle Daniel, Uncle Teal'c, George!"

"Stop it!" Grace yelled. "Stop shouting at daddy, Jacob!" She slid off her chair and marched around the table to crawl into Jack's lap. "Its not daddy's fault. He saved the world! He saved us!"

"He couldn't save himself though, could he, Gracie. He couldn't save mom." Jake switched his gaze to Sam. "We saw you die." He said.

"Mommy, tell him to stop." Gracie pleaded with Sam.

"She isn't our mommy, Grace." Jake said.

"Mommy?" Daniel repeated.

"Oh come _on_, Daniel. I know you're smarter than this. He's already worked it out." He said, sending a glare in Jack's direction.

Daniel looked at his friend. "Jack?"

Jack shrugged. "Look at them, Daniel."

"How did you switch the power off?" Sam asked.

Gracie held up a hand. "Easy." She said. Around her wrist was a grey bracelet. "Thor gave it to me. To protect me."

"That's why you saved us." Jake said, his gaze flicking between Jack and Sam. "Gracie. She's special."

Grace nodded happily. She began to play with Jack's dogtags where they rested on his t-shirt.

"What did they save you from?" General Hammond asked.

"Maybe you should see for yourselves." Jake said. He dug into a pocket and pulled out a cassette tape, the type Daniel used in his video camera.

"Uncle Daniel dropped it in the gateroom when he…" The boy broke off and looked at Daniel. "He dropped it." He said. "Anyway, it must have hit record somehow, 'cause there's stuff on this." He slid the tape across the table to Daniel who got up and inserted it in the machine.

"Um… I don't think Gracie should see this again." Jake said.

The little girl shook her head.

Jack looked down at her. "You don't want to?" He asked.

"No." She said in a small voice.

"How about you go into George's office and play with the toy planes?" Jack asked gently.

She nodded.

Jack stood and carried the girl into the General's office, depositing her in the large leather chair. "There ya go, Gracie."

"Come get me when it's finished." She said.

He nodded and exited the office, closing the door.

"Are you sure _you _want to watch this?" Sam asked Jake.

He nodded.

"Hit it, Daniel." Jack said, turning out the lights and retaking his seat.

Daniel pressed play.

The first image was of the ramp in the gate room. Apparently the camera had fallen on its side, as the image was out by ninety degrees.

_The gateroom was a mess, debris littered the ramp. In the distance, gunfire could be heard. _

_The Stargate began to dial. _

_Suddenly there was the sound of running feet. _

_Three pairs of feet came into view, one pair was small and the other two were adult, wearing combat boots. _

"_They're coming." Jack's voice. "That door won't hold 'em for long." _

"_Come on. Come on. Dial!" Sam could be heard talking to the gate._

_Another klaxon began to sound, almost blocking the noise of the dialling gate._

"_Dad?" Jake's voice, scared. "What's that noise?"_

"_I don't believe you!" Sam. Angry._

"_Mom?" Jake again._

"_Jake, take your sister and go wait over there." Sam said._

_Another pair of feet appeared, tiny feet, Gracie's feet. The two smaller pairs began to walk away. _

_The smaller of the two adult pairs of feet stepped closer to the larger. _

"_I don't wanna hear it." Jack said._

"_You set the self-destruct," Sam said, her tone accusatory._

"_The mountain is the last place with any of them left. If it blows, they're all dead." Jack reasoned. His voice sounded strained._

_  
"What about Teal'c and Daniel? They're not here, Jack."_

"_They're dead." Jack said. _

_Sam was silent a moment. "Why didn't you tell me?" _

"_When could I have told you? We've been running since they got here."_

"_You still should have told me, Jack."_

"_I know. I'm sorry. Look, if I hadn't set the self-destruct, they could have just followed you through." Jack's voice was softer._

"_What do you mean followed us through?" Sam asked. "What about you?"_

_Jack was silent._

"_You're not coming." Sam said. "And you weren't going to tell me. You were just going to let me walk through that gate with our kids and you weren't going to come." Her voice sounded dull with horror._

"_I won't survive this anyway. Its better this way, I can try to hold 'em off." Jack sounded tired. "Please, Sam. You have to understand this."_

"_How am I supposed to explain that to them?" She asked, just as the seventh chevron engaged._

"_I don't know." He admitted._

"_What about me?" Sam asked. "I'm not going to survive this either. I've lost too much blood, Jack."_

"_The mirror." He said. In the background the machine gun chatter was suddenly silenced. "Get them to that quantum mirror thing we found. Send them somewhere. You go too. They can save you." _

_Sam appeared to be hesitating. _

"_Go, Sam. Please." _

_There was a loud crash._

"_That's the outer door." Jack said._

"_I can't." Sam said quietly. _

"_What?" _

"_I can't leave you here." She said._

"_Of course you can." Jack snapped._

"_No, I can't."_

"_Carter, if you don't get your ass through that gate right now your kids're gonna die here!" He snapped._

"_We can fight them off." She said weakly._

"_Oh yeah! And on the off chance that we do, the NID are gonna come for your daughter. For Gracie, Carter. They'll take her and they'll-"_

"_Jack!" _

"_Then get through the gate!" He yelled over the sound of the gateroom door being crashed into._

"_Go!" _

_Sam feet hesitated a second more before turning and heading up the ramp._

_Jack stepped closer to the camera. The image blurred as he picked it up. "Sam!" Jack called. _

_She turned. _

"_Catch." The camera sailed through the air and jolted suddenly as it was caught. _

_The lens was covered by the green of Sam's BDUs. _

"_You might need proof. Warn them, Sam." Jack said. _

_Suddenly there was the sound of a large staff weapon being fired. _

"_Jack!" Sam screamed._

"_Daddy!" Gracie's voice came from somewhere behind Sam._

"_Mom! Mom, we have to go! Please, mom!" Jake's voice, urging his mother towards the gate._

_The picture went black._

The briefing room was silent.

Jack looked up and caught Sam looking at him. They held one another's gaze a moment.

Then Jack spoke to Jake. "What happened to your mom?"

"She got us to the planet where the mirror was. She even managed to program it before she died. She didn't tell us. The whole time she knew and she didn't say anything."

"What did he mean, 'warn them'?" General Hammond asked quietly.

"He's coming." Jake said.

"Whom do you speak of, Jacob?" Teal'c asked.

"Anubis." Gracie said from the doorway to the General's office. "Anubis is coming."


	2. Chapter 2

Title: At What Cost?

Chapter: 2 of ?

Email: How much does it cost to keep saving the world?

Category: Action/Adventure/Romance

Rating: Teen

Pairing: S/J

Season: 7

Spoilers: After _Fallen_, before any of the major changes inflicted by _Chimera_ and _Heroes_.

Content Warnings: None

Archive: My Site: Yes

SamandJack: Yes

Anywhere else: Yes

Disclaimer: Only the story is mine, the characters and the universe belong to other, richer, more important people.

Author's Note: I know the whole 'kids through the Stargate' thing has been done a thousand times, but this just popped into my head and I couldn't resist.

Everyone in the briefing room spun to look at the little girl.

"How do you know that, Grace?" Daniel asked gently.

Gracie shrugged.

"It's what happened before." Jake said.

Jack looked at the boy. "Doesn't mean it's gonna happen here." He said.

Jake snorted. "Excuse me? You are Colonel Jack O'Neill, right? Last year, your friend, Dr Daniel Jackson, who was dead at the time-"

"Ascended." Daniel cut in.

"Whatever." Jake and Jack said at the same time.

Jake glared briefly at Jack. "Anyway, Daniel helped you against Anubis. But it wasn't enough. Anubis got hold of something called the Eye of Ra. When Daniel came back you destroyed Anubis' new toy. That happen here?" He asked.

Jack nodded.

"Right. Were you captured by Baal here too?"

Sam, who was watching Jack the closest, saw him flinch almost imperceptibly.

"Yes."

"Well, I've got news for ya, _dad_, Baal joined Anubis and they're on their way here, now."

Some hours later, Daniel found himself standing outside the VIP suite that had been assigned to the children.

He knocked.

"Yeah?"

He walked in.

Jake was laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

Daniel observed him for a moment. The boy was so much like his father. From the casual sarcasm to the anger that simmered just under the surface.

_He's only ten_. Daniel told himself.

The boy looked up at Daniel, piercing blue eyes dispelling the image of his father. "Is Gracie okay?"

Daniel nodded. "She's in the commissary with Sam and Teal'c."

"She's always liked Teal'c."

"Jack's been closeted away with the General for the past hour."

At Daniel's mention of Jack, the boy's expression hardened.

Daniel walked over to the bed and sat down next to the boy.

"We've sent messages to the Asgaard and the Tok'ra, asking for help." He said.

"They won't make it."

"That's what Jack said."

The boy looked away.

Daniel decided to go for broke. "Why are you so angry with him?"

"Do they even see each other that way?" The boy asked.

Daniel was startled by the adult question from the kid.

Recovering himself, he said, "You've seen them together, what do you think?"

The boy nodded. "It's going to happen again." He said quietly.

"No, it won't." Daniel said firmly.

"Yes it will." The boy insisted. "You're all the same. Save the world. Never mind yourselves. Never mind each other. Save the world. And he's the worst one. Everybody else first. When you got hit he stayed with you until the last moment, trying to save you. Then Teal'c dragged him away. Then Teal'c died, and he got himself hit. He's so stupid!"

Suddenly the boy's eyes filled with tears. He looked down at his hands.

"Maybe you're so angry at him because it's easier than missing him." Daniel said softly.

The boy gave a short laugh. "Same old Uncle Daniel."

Daniel smiled. "Uncle Daniel? Really?"

The boy looked up. "You don't mind?"

"No! No… it's just… weird." Daniel paused. "Sam and Jack's kid."

"Yeah, poor me, huh?"

Daniel laughed softly.

"You wanna know how, don't you?" The kid asked.

Daniel smiled. "That obvious?"

The kid shrugged and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, you are definitely Jack's kid." Daniel said. This time, Jake didn't look away, but smiled softly. "So, yeah. How did you and Gracie come about?"

"I think it's probably the only difference between here and… there." Jake began. "Captain Carter went on the first Abydos mission. She campaigned until they let her go. There she met Daniel, our Daniel. And dad. He was-"

"Depressed. I remember."

"Yeah. But apparently, Abydos changed him. When they got back he started seeing mom. They got married. Mom carried on trying to get the gate to work. I was born two months before the Stargate program started back up and they called dad back to work. There were some… issues about them working on the same team, in the same command, but they threatened to walk. Then you came back, Teal'c joined SG-1 and the rest is history."

"What about your sister?" Daniel asked.

"Grace was born seven months after you guys took out Apophis. The first time. Mom was still pregnant with her through the whole… Jolinar thing. They got in _so_ much trouble. I was only about three years old, but I remember coming to the SGC with mom and Gracie. Dad was in the briefing room, listening to these guys tell him off. They said something about mom and he lost it. Just lost it."

"He scared you, huh?"

The boy appeared to think about it for a moment, then shook his head. "No. It made me feel safe. He was angry with the other guys, not us. Why would he scare me?"

"Jack scares me sometimes." Daniel said.

"He's not your dad, though." Jake said.

"You should talk to him, our Jack I mean."

"He doesn't want to know me." Jake said, his voice small.

Daniel looked down at the top of the boy's head. "Why would you think that?"

The boy shrugged, suddenly looking his age, rather than the preternaturally mature child that Daniel had just gotten used to.

Daniel stood. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" The boy asked.

"To find Jack."

"You guys grab a seat, I'll get lunch." Sam said.

Teal'c inclined his head and followed Grace, who had already taken off and was weaving her way between the tables and dumbfounded SGC personnel, towards the table SG-1 usually took.

She supposed she had no right to be surprised that the girl knew her way around the SGC like it was her own home.

She smiled as she watched the little girl conversing animatedly with Teal'c.

She looked like a little angel with her mass of dark blonde curls framing her elfin face and her huge brown eyes.

Brown eyes.

Gracie's hair and features may have matched Sam's own, but her eyes and personality? Jack's all the way. Right down to the grin gracing the child's face right at this moment.

Jack. The Colonel.

After the briefing Colonel O'Neill and General Hammond had gone into the latter's office and closed the door. Sam hadn't seen either man since.

She made her way across the commissary with her heavily laden tray and sat down with Teal'c and… her daughter.

"I didn't know what colour jello you liked, Gracie, so I got both."

"Red." Grace said inspecting the sandwich Sam had bought her.

Sam smiled softly to herself as the child went on, "Jake likes blue, but he's weird."

As they ate their lunch, Grace continued a conversation with Teal'c about some TV show or other.

Sam was content just to watch the little girl.

Before she had shown Jake to the VIP suite and Gracie had expressed her desire to eat, the children had been taken to the infirmary for tests.

It had surprised Sam how protective she felt of both Gracie and Jake. Out of Jack's presence, the boy had been more than happy to chat about idle things. He seemed to be okay with Sam, just angry as hell at Jack.

She wondered at that.

When they had first entered the infirmary, Janet had gasped in shock.

"Sam! Whose children are they?"

"Look at them, Janet." Daniel had said, before Sam could open her mouth.

"I know who they look like, Daniel," the diminutive doctor had retorted, "I want to know for a fact who they are."

Jake had solved the problem by sticking out a hand and when Janet took it, saying, "Dr Fraiser, I presume? I'm Jacob O'Neill, but you can call me Jake." He had grinned at Janet's bemused look as he shook her hand.

From Sam's arms, Gracie had taken her thumb out of her mouth long enough to say, "Gracie O'Neill," and give a little wave, before she stuck it straight back in again.

"O'Neill as in…" Janet had said.

"Cut it out, Janet." Sam had said. "I know you know."

Janet had smiled at her and said, "But… how?"

"Alternate Universe." Jake said.

"They need to be tested, Janet. General's orders." Sam had said.

Janet nodded. "Climb up, Jake." She said, patting the bed next to her.

There was a pop as Gracie took her thumb out of her mouth.

"Make sure you use little needles." She said. "Jake's scared of big ones."

"Sam?" Daniel's voice brought Sam back out of her reverie. His tone indicated that he had already called her several times.

"Sorry, Daniel. What was it?"

"Have you seen Jack?" Daniel asked, smiling patiently. Jake was standing next to the archaeologist, watching her.

"Hi, Jake." Sam greeted. The boy smiled at her. She looked at Daniel. "No, I haven't seen the Colonel since the briefing."

Gracie laughed suddenly.

Sam looked at her questioningly, but the little girl continued to eat her jello. Sam looked at Jake instead.

"You called him the Colonel." Jake said, shrugging.

Sam frowned for a moment, before looking up at Daniel. "Why do you ask?"

"We can't find him." Daniel said.

"Is O'Neill not with GeneralHammond?" Teal'c asked.

"He's gone home." Jake said quietly.

"How do you know?" Daniel asked.

"Its what he did before." Gracie said, not looking up from her jello.

Unexpectedly, Teal'c stroked a gentle hand through the girl's hair.

"Why did he go home?" Sam asked the boy.

His reply was cut off by the base PA. "SG-1 to the briefing room. SG-1 to the briefing room."

Sam and Teal'c stood. "Come on Gracie." Jake said when his sister didn't move.

Gracie looked at Sam. "Carry me?" She asked shyly.

Sam smiled, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by the small girl. "Of course."

General Hammond was waiting for them when they entered the briefing room.

He nodded to them in greeting, his eyes lingering slightly longer than was necessary on the two children.

"Sit down, SG-1."

They took their seats. Jake sitting next to Sam and Gracie staying in her lap, sucking her thumb.

"I'm afraid I have some disturbing news," General Hammond began.

"They're here." Jake said. "We were too late."

"Not too late, son. Because of your warning, the _Prometheus _is prepped and ready to go. I want SG-1 in place on the _Prometheus _for the attack."

"Attack?" Daniel asked.

"They're going to fight the motherships with the _Prometheus_," Jake said quietly.

"Is that what happened before?" Sam asked.

Jake nodded.

"This time will be different, son." Hammond said firmly.

"You can't promise that." Jake said. "And you shouldn't."

Sam found her free hand wandering to the boy's head, stroking his unruly hair.

"Anyway," Hammond continued, "you leave for Area 51 at oh eight hundred hours tomorrow. You may go home from now until then. Major Carter,if you'd like to take Jake and Gracie home with you?"

"Yes, sir."

Hammond nodded, satisfied. "Dismissed."


	3. Chapter 3

Title: At What Cost?

Chapter: 3 of ?

Email: How much does it cost to keep saving the world?

Category: Action/Adventure/Romance

Rating: Teen

Pairing: S/J

Season: 7

Spoilers: After _Fallen_ and _Fragile Balance_, before any of the major changes inflicted by _Chimera_ and _Heroes_.

Content Warnings: None

Archive: My Site: Yes

SamandJack: Yes

Anywhere else: Yes

Disclaimer: Only the plot (what there is of it) is mine, the characters, settings and cool technology belong to other people.

Author's Note:

When SG-1 didn't move, General Hammond asked, "Was there something else?"

"General," Daniel began, "Where's Jack?"

"He went home already, son." General Hammond said, looking down at his blue mission folder.

"I just thought he'd be at the briefing with us." Daniel prodded.

Hammond nodded absently and looked up, "Is that all, Dr Jackson?"

Daniel nodded.

"Then you're dismissed people." Hammond said and walked out of the briefing room and into his office, closing the door behind him.

"Something's wrong." Daniel said.

Sam nodded.

"Indeed." Teal'c said.

Gracie giggled.

"They had a fight." Jake said quietly, not looking up from doodling on his legal pad. "Uncle George always looks like that after he's had a fight with dad."

Sam nodded. "Sounds about right." She took a deep breath. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Daniel and Teal'c walked with Sam and the kids to the elevator that would take them to the surface.

Jake and Gracie ran ahead, navigating the corridors of the SGC like they'd been there their whole lives

'_Which they have, kinda,'_ Sam thought, watching them.

"Not exactly good of Jack to leave you to cope with them all on your own." Daniel said.

"It's okay." Sam insisted. "It would've been a bit… weird anyway."

"You don't think maybe you guys should talk about this?" Daniel asked.

"Talk about what, Daniel?"

Teal'c answered her. "I believe DanielJackson is referring to the fact that in every alternate reality we have encountered, yourself and O'Neill have been involved in a relationship."

"Thanks, Teal'c." Daniel said.

The Jaffa inclined his head nobly.

"I don't think the Colonel wants to talk about it, he couldn't have gotten out of here faster if he'd flown." Sam said, not taking her eyes from her children. '_My children_.'

"Jack doesn't always know what's good for him, Sam." Daniel pointed out.

Sam nodded and stepped into the elevator that Jake and Gracie had called.

"You coming with?" She asked Daniel.

He shook his head. "Teal'c and I are gonna stay on base tonight. Not much point in me going home anyway."

"You could come with us." Sam said.

"I'm good, Sam. Really. See you tomorrow." He looked at Jake and Gracie. "See you guys tomorrow too."

Gracie stepped forwards and hugged Daniel's legs. "See you tomorrow, Uncle Daniel." Daniel patted her head.

Gracie moved on to Teal'c, who picked her up.

She yawned. "See you tomorrow, Uncle Teal'c."

"You are tired, GracieO'Neill. Ensure that you sleep well tonight."

Gracie nodded and stuck her thumb in her mouth. Teal'c passed her to Sam.

"See you guys tomorrow," Jake said.

Teal'c inclined his head.

"Remember what we talked about, Jake." Daniel said.

The boy nodded, "Yes, sir." He said, grinning impishly.

"See you tomorrow, guys." Sam said, leaning forwards and pressing the button for the surface.

It felt strange to have children sitting in the back of her car. Looking in her rear-view mirror, Sam could see Gracie had fallen asleep. Jake was staring out of the window.

"Jake? You okay?"

"None of this exists anymore. Not where we're from. They destroyed it." The boy said so quietly that she had to strain to hear him.

"You're safe now." Sam said.

"At the moment." Jake said.

Sam was silent a moment. "So… I named you after my dad?"

In the mirror Jake smiled. "Actually, it was dad that named me. He didn't know it was Grandpa's name. He mentioned it to you when I was born, but you didn't want to call me Jacob, 'cause you and grandpa weren't talking. Dad talked you round. Then there was the whole Selmak thing and you and grandpa started to get on. He even started to like dad. Uncle Mark doesn't though."

Sam smiled.

"In case you were wondering, you named Gracie." Jake said.

Sam nodded. Somewhere in her mind, that made sense.

Suddenly, a scream pierced the air. It was Gracie.

Sam almost swerved.

"Gracie! Shh! It's okay!" Jake was frantically trying to calm his sister.

Sam pulled over. "Is she okay? What's wrong?"

"Nightmare." Jake said, still trying to calm the little girl down.

"What can we do?" Sam asked.

"Want daddy!" Gracie yelled, suddenly very clear.

"Oh god." Sam said.

Gracie continued to cry fitfully.

"There's nothing we can do when she's like this." Jake said, "She needs _him_." His words came out bitter.

"Right." Sam turned back in her seat and put the car into drive. "Colonel O'Neill's house is closer than mine, anyway."

As she navigated the traffic, she faintly heard, under the sound of Gracie's sobs, "_Colonel O'Neill_?"

She ignored the boy, who, despite his anger towards Jack O'Neill, was so like him it was spooky, and concentrated on her driving.

Jack was sitting on the deck at the back of his house, leaning back against the wall and looking up at the sky.

It wasn't an ideal position for his back, or his knees, but he was finding it strangely comforting.

He was furious.

The pentagon-approved plan wasn't going to work. There was just no way. The flaws stood out to him like they were outlined in neon.

But he was still expected - _ordered _- to go along with the mission.

He sighed and banged his head off the wall behind him, closing his eyes.

Then there was the whole kids-with-Carter thing.

Boy, was that ever messed up.

Jack felt kinda bad for bailing on Carter and the guys, but he just couldn't stay at the SGC.

He couldn't stay in his house either, apparently.

He had been unable to sit still, so he'd tried to tidy his kitchen.

Unable to do that, he'd come to hide outside.

He could hear someone crying.

Louder, he could hear someone shouting. "Sir! Sir, please open the door!" Carter.

"Its open, mom. It's always open." Jake.

He heard his front door open and Carter and Jake enter the house. Presumably that was Gracie crying.

"Sir?"

Jack stood. "Out here, Carter."

Sam exited his house carrying Gracie.

The little girl was in tears, seemingly inconsolable.

"What's goin' on?"

"She wants you!" Sam said. "I don't know what to do."

Jack blinked, taken aback for a moment. Then he held out his arms and took the small girl from Sam.

The sobbing continued.

"You have to-" Jake began, but was cut off by a sudden cessation of noise.

Jack was running long fingers through Gracie's hair, rocking her gently. Gracie had stopped crying, and was looking up at Jack.

"Daddy?"

Jack nodded. "Wanna tell me what happened?"

Gracie shook her head.

"Why not?"

She looked around at Sam and Jake.

Jack raised an eyebrow slightly. "Okay. How about I put you in bed and you tell me? Carter and Jake can go in the kitchen and get something to eat."

Gracie nodded.

"C'mon then, kid."

Jack looked up and a look passed between himself and Sam. She nodded and Jack turned and walked into the house, talking softly to Gracie.

"What was that all about?" Sam asked, not expecting an answer.

"Whenever Gracie has nightmares, she talks to him about them."

"She has nightmares a lot?" Sam asked, looking down at the little boy.

"Yeah. Even before the whole invasion thing she used to wake up screaming."

Sam looked down at the top of Jake's head for a moment. "You hungry?"

"Yeah."

"Let's go raid the colonel's fridge."

She put her arm around the boy's shoulders and walked with him into the house.

When Jack emerged from his spare bedroom he found Sam and Jake on the couch.

Sam was sleeping where she sat and Jake was lying next to her, sleeping with his head in her lap.

Jack stood in the doorway a moment with his arms crossed, watching them.

Looking closely at Jake's face, he could see traces of both himself and Sam. It was what had been bothering him in the briefing room.

His mind kept playing games with him. His facial structure; Sam's eyes; his rebellious hair; Sam's nose…

He shook his head. The kid couldn't sleep on the couch all night.

He moved into the room, soundlessly scooped Jake up and headed for the spare bedroom he'd left Gracie sleeping in.

Jake didn't even wake up when Jack laid him in the bed next to his sister.

He smoothed the coverlet over the boy. _My son…_ He stepped back, but was unable to leave the room. His eyes lingered on the sleeping children.

He found himself studying Gracie's face, the way he had Jake's. It was something that had fascinated him in Charlie, too, seeing himself and Sara in their son's face.

Looking at Gracie and Jake now he was struck by how similar they looked, and yet how different.

"Scary, huh?" Sam's voice came from the door.

Jack didn't turn. "Yeah."

"Sir, about this…"

"You think maybe we could drop the sir? Just this once?"

"Yes, sir."

Finally, Jack turned away from the sleeping children to glare at her. She was grinning.

"Drink?" He asked, abandoning his glare and walking past her out of the bedroom.

As they passed the hallway light switch Sam reached over to turn it off.

Jack caught her hand. "Leave it on."

"Why?" She asked, trying to ignore the fact that he was essentially holding her hand.

He looked slightly uncomfortable. "Because, Carter, although you haven't been scared of the dark since you were two, I was until I was ten, and so are Jake and Gracie." He suddenly realised he was breaking their unspoken 'no contact' rule and dropped her hand.

He walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge.

"What do you want to drink?" He asked her as she followed him in. "I have beer or… beer."

He shrugged at the look she sent him. "You could always drink tap water." He said, popping the cap off his beer.

She reached forwards and took the bottle from his hand. "Thank you."

Jack didn't react to her theft of his beer, merely reached into the fridge and took another one out.

"So…" Sam said, trailing off, unsure of what to say.

"So." Jack repeated.

"Why'd you leave the base without saying anything?" Sam asked.

"I had to," Jack sighed and swept a hand through his hair. "I had a… disagreement with General Hammond. Well, not so much Hammond as his superiors."

Sam nodded. "Jake was right."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. What was the disagreement about?"

"Just a difference of opinion on how to handle this little… crisis."

"Let me guess, you don't think that using the _Prometheus _is going to work either?"

He shook his head. "Who agrees with me?"

"Jake."

"Figures."

"He's a lot like you, you know." Sam said softly.

"Probably why he can't stand me."

"That's not true."

They regarded one another for a moment. Then Jack said, "Gracie's a lot like you. Tough cookie."

"Tough cookie?" Sam repeated incredulously.

Jack shrugged.

"What was wrong with Gracie?"

"Nightmares."

"I figured that out for myself, thank you."

"Sarcasm?" Jack said, smirking.

Sam smiled and nodded.

"She dreamt that I went away and left her and Jake… and you."

"You mean her dad?"

"No. I asked that too. She said she meant me."

"Wow."

"I know."

"What did you tell her?"

"Nothing much. I just said even if I did go somewhere, I wouldn't be leaving her or Jake," He paused for a moment and looked down at his beer, "or you."

Sam stared at him silently for a moment.

"Carter, it's rude to stare."

"I'm just amazed at how easily you've slipped into this."

He looked up at her, eyebrows raised. "Oh yeah, Miss Sleeping-On-The-Couch?" She smiled. "Besides, it's hard not to. I mean, I look at them and I see…"

"…us." She finished.

Jack nodded. They stood in silence for a moment, each unsure of what to say.

Sam took a swig of her beer. "This makes three."

"Yeah." He said, in a tone that clearly indicated that he didn't want to go down this road.

She ignored it. "Three alternate realities where we're together."

"Carter, there was a distinct tone in my voice…" Jack said pointedly.

"I could handle it if it were just one, but three?"

"We should hunt down every last one of those mirrors."

"How would that solve the problem?" Sam snapped.

"Keep your voice down. The kids are asleep." The words were said before he could think about them.

Sam held his gaze for several seconds before saying, "We can't keep hiding from this, Jack."

"This is _so_ not the right time to discuss this."

"When will we discuss it? In all probability we are going to die real soon." She rubbed her hand over her face tiredly. "All I know is that whether or not I gave birth to them, those are my children sleeping in that room. Our children. And I know that you feel the same way."

"Okay, I won't deny that. I can't."

"When we watched that tape do you know what was thinking?"

"No, what?"

"They sounded exactly like us."

"Well? They _were _us."

"It took me a moment to work out why that was wrong too." Sam said. Jack looked at her blankly. "They were together. So, were they overly formal, or are we breaking regs in all but action?"

Jack was silent.

"Yeah. I didn't think you'd have an answer for that one." She sighed. "You would react in exactly the same way he did in that situation. And I can't watch you die. I can't…" She trailed off, gathering herself. "Jake was right. Its going to happen again. And I'm going to lose you."

She said the last few words matter-of-factly, as though distancing herself from them.

"I think you're right." He said finally.

"Then you agree that we should talk about this?" Sam asked.

"No." Jack said simply.

He kissed her.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: At What Cost?

Chapter: 4 of ?

Email: How much does it cost to keep saving the world?

Category: Action/Adventure/Romance

Rating: Teen

Pairing: S/J

Season: 7

Spoilers: After _Fallen_ and _Fragile Balance_, before any of the major changes inflicted by _Chimera _and _Heroes_.

Content Warnings: None.

Archive: My Site: Yes

SamandJack: Yes

Anywhere else: Yes

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's Note: Sorry about the loooooong gap between updates, but I moved house and had to wait until the paint had dried and the internet was put on.

Thanks again to everyone who sent feedback.

They finally parted for air, but didn't step away from one another.

"We shouldn't be doing this." Sam whispered.

"Doing what?" Jack asked, running a finger down her face and making her shiver.

"You know what."

"Why not? According to them we already have." He said, gently inclining his head in the direction of the sleeping children.

Sam smiled. "You're getting confused."

"You know me. I'm easily confused." He said softly.

Still neither of them moved.

Finally Jack stepped back. He walked away from Sam and leant on the kitchen counter.

For a moment, Sam felt a sharp pang of loss. She looked down to cover it; sure it would show in her face.

Jack sighed tiredly. "Its okay, Carter."

The name hit her like ice water. '_Carter?'_

"You should get some rest. Early start tomorrow." He continued.

In one quick motion Sam was across the room and pressed against him, kissing him fiercely.

When he managed to get his breath back, Jack said, "O-_kay_. What was that about?"

"I meant what I said, Jack. We could die tomorrow."

"I know that but-"

Sam, however, was sliding her hands inside his shirt and around to his back, pulling him against her. "But?"

Jack stifled a moan as her nails ran down his back through his t-shirt. "Something about… regs?" He tried.

Sam laughed softly. "There are two children sleeping in a room down the hall that say we already screwed the regs… Jack."

"'_Screwed the regs'_?" He repeated. "You're starting to sound like me."

She didn't reply.

"I thought we shouldn't be doing this?" He asked.

"I'm serious."

"So am I," he said. He moved back slightly. "I don't want this to be a mistake."

"It won't be." Sam insisted. She reached a hand up and ran it through his hair. "We could die tomorrow." She repeated.

"And we might not." He pointed out, making no move to remove her hand.

She smiled up at him, a brilliant, blinding smile. "That'll be a plus, then, won't it?"

"Did you hit your head on the way over here?" He asked suspiciously.

"Why are you making this so difficult?"

"Because it should be!" He said, exasperated.

"Why? Why does this have to be so difficult?"

"There are rules…" he began, stopping when she gave him a look. "Why aren't you sayin' all this?"

"I don't know!" She said, walking away from him and back into the middle of the kitchen. "Maybe because I don't believe in it anymore." She sighed. "Maybe because I'm tired of living my life according to rules that are made obsolete by the job I do. Maybe because I spent today with my children - o_ur_ children – and they're wonderful, beautiful, smart kids. They're the best possible combination of us. And I want that. I want us, even if it's only for tonight."

She stopped, realising Jack was staring at her, eyebrows raised.

"Wow." He said.

"I know." She said, slightly abashed at her outburst.

Suddenly, Jack grinned. "They are cool, aren't they?"

"Cool doesn't cover it." She said softly. Suddenly she was crying. The whole day overwhelming her in one go.

"C'mere." Jack moved across the kitchen and enveloped her in his arms.

"I need you." She said, her voice muffled against his chest. "I heard the other me on that tape today and one thing was different. She was happy. Even when she was yelling at her Jack, even when she knew she was going to die, she was angry because she was happy, in all aspects of her life."

She expected him to protest, to try to derail the conversation, but he just said, "I know what you mean."

She felt him kiss the top of her head.

He pulled back from her slightly, looking down at her intently.

He bent his head and kissed her gently, slowly, passionately. She could feel her legs weakening underneath her as Jack slid his left hand into her hair, framing the side of her face. His other arm was supporting her back, essentially holding her up.

She wound her arms around his neck, running her nails through the hair at the back of his neck, pulling him closer.

Jack awoke entangled in Sam. They were lying on his bed, both still naked, still entwined in one another.

The coverlet was scrunched up at the foot of the mattress, and in the dim pre-dawn light he could dimly make out their clothes scattered on the floor.

He extricated himself from Sam and wandered across the room to pull on some jeans. He picked up his t-shirt.

"Sam." He whispered. "Sam, wake up a minute."

She stirred slightly. "What?"

He smiled. "Put this on," he said, handing her the t-shirt.

"Why? You don't like me like this?" She asked playfully.

"You woke up quickly." He observed wryly. "I just thought you should put somethin' on In case the kids come in."

She smiled sleepily and pulled the t-shirt over her head.

"You going somewhere?" She asked, when he didn't lie back down beside her.

"Nah." He said, lying down behind her and pulling her body to his.

He waited until she had gone back into deep sleep, judging by her breathing.

Jack took in a deep breath, drawing in the scent of her hair. Then he got up off the bed gently, so as not to wake her.

He stood beside the bed, looking down at her sleeping form. He reached for the coverlet and pulled it up and over her.

Then he walked out of the room and down the hall. He leant on the doorframe and watched the sleeping children for a moment.

Jake was laying sprawled on one side of the bed, while Gracie was snuggled up on the other, wrapped in the entire coverlet.

He walked into the room and smoothed the coverlet around them, pulling it back over Jake from Gracie's clutches.

Then he went back into his bedroom and dressed silently. He took his dress blues out of the dresser, slung them over his arm and left the room, looking back at Sam only once.

After a few moments there was the sound of his truck starting up in the driveway and pulling away.

When Sam awoke she knew Jack was gone.

She hadn't heard him leave, and she didn't need to look around to know he was gone.

She just knew.

She got up and pulled on her underwear and jeans, keeping Jack's t-shirt on over the top and trying to ignore the part of herself that ridiculed her actions.

Then she sat down on the edge of the bed again, unsure of what to do next.

The bedroom door opened slowly, admitting two sleep-dishevelled children.

Gracie was – as always – sucking her thumb.

"He's gone." Jake said, sounding surprised for the first time since his arrival.

Sam nodded. She was dimly aware that she was hurt and angry, but her own feelings were overridden by what she could see in both Gracie's and Jake's faces.

Loss.

Utter loss intermingled with fear.

She had never had to comfort hurt children before. Not this kind of hurt.

Scraped knees she could cope with, but abandonment? That was a whole different ballgame.

She frantically searched her mind for something to do or say. And suddenly it was there.

She opened her arms and said, "C'mere."

Both children complied at a rate of knots, Gracie climbing into her lap and Jake sitting on the bed beside her, snuggling into her side.

They sat like that in silence for a while, until a loud banging intruded on their moment.

"It's the front door." Jake said.

Sam rose, picking up Gracie as she did so. Jake slid off the bed and fell into step behind her.

As the three of them neared the front door they could hear someone yelling.

It was Daniel.

"Jack! Open this door right now! Jack! You selfish son-of-a-"

Sam opened the door, cutting Daniel off mid-rant.

"He's not here, Daniel."

"No… but you apparently are." Daniel said, "And is that Jack's shirt you're wearing?"

Jake snickered. "Ten points for observation, Uncle Daniel."

Sam sighed. "You'd better come in."

She turned and walked into the kitchen, trying not to remember some of the extremely stirring images of what had taken place here last night, and put on some coffee.

"What do you kids want for breakfast?" Sam asked.

There was a _pop_ as Gracie pulled her thumb out of her mouth.

"Froot Loops," she said, at exactly the same time as her brother.

"Why did I even ask?" Sam said, smiling and hunting through the cupboards for the cereal.

"Left," Jake directed.

Sam opened the cupboard to her left and pulled out the cereal packet. She set Gracie down on the floor and followed the little girl to the table.

While she served the children – her children – breakfast, Daniel took care of the coffee.

Sam and Daniel sat at the table with Jake and Gracie.

Jake was silent throughout the meal, but Gracie chattered about a wide variety of subjects, from TV shows to her latest presents from Grandpa Jacob and Bra'tac.

Sam didn't speak much either, just watched the little girl in awe, so it was left to Daniel to try to keep up with her babbling.

When Gracie had eaten her last soggy Froot Loop she decided that she wanted to go outside and play.

She slid off her seat and disappeared in the direction of the garden.

"Jake, go with her." Sam said.

"Yes, mom." Jake replied. He froze momentarily, something like guilt flashing across his face, then straightened himself up and speedily followed his sister.

"Sam?" Daniel said. "Sam? You still with us?" He waved a hand in front of her face.

"I'm here, Daniel." She said.

"What happened last night?"

Not wanting to answer, Sam said, "Why'd you come here this morning?"

"General Hammond asked me to check Jack was coming in this morning. For some reason he thought he might not." Daniel said. "And I wanted to see him anyway."

"Yeah, I thought you did." Sam said wryly.

"He shouldn't have run out on you like that!" Daniel defended. "But I see you worked that one out between yourselves."

Sam glared at him.

"Where'd he go, Sam?"

"I don't know, he was gone when I woke up."

"Ouch."

"I know."

"What do you wanna do?"

"I'm going to work."

There was the sound of raised voices coming from the yard.

"What the-?" Daniel asked, rising.

Sam was already headed out to see what was going on.

Gracie and Jake were standing about a foot away from each other, both seething with rage.

Gracie was yelling. "You don't know what you're talking about, Jake!"

"Face it, Gracie!" Jake yelled, "He bailed on us!"

"He didn't!" Gracie was crying now, sobbing.

Sam hurried over to her and scooped her up. "Jake!" She reprimanded.

"He did not! He did not! He did not!" Gracie was repeating in between sobs.

"Shh, Gracie." Sam soothed.

"Daddy had something important to do." Gracie said.

"What, Gracie? What?" Jake asked, exasperated.

"I don't know!" Gracie yelled back, completely ignoring Sam's attempts to soothe her.

Jake snorted derisively, but wisely shut up at the look Sam sent him.

"He didn't bail." Gracie said softly.

"I know, Gracie. Shh. It's okay." Sam said, stroking her daughter's hair.

She reached over and grabbed Jake, pulling him to her and hugging him. "Please don't fight."

"'kay." Gracie said.

"'kay." Jake repeated.

"I don't get it either, Sam." Daniel interjected. "Why would Jack just disappear, like that? He wouldn't just leave-"

"He didn't."

The four of them spun at the sound of the voice.

Walking around the side of the house was a boy. A very familiar boy. He had grown in the few months since they had last seen him, he was almost at his full adult height now and the zits had cleared up.

Dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, boots and shades, he was the image of his counterpart, if significantly younger.

Jonathan O'Neill grinned at them, "Daniel, Carter." He greeted.

"Uh… Jack?" Daniel asked, still recovering from the shock of seeing him.

"Jon, actually. Jack was taken." The boy – Jon – said, offering them a wry smile.

Both Gracie and Jake were staring at him in a state of shock.

"But how-" Sam began, only to be interrupted.

"One minute," Jon said, raising a finger. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a cellphone. He dialled it and waited until the phone at the other end was answered. "Hello? Yeah, this is Jon O'Neill; I need to get a message to Miss Forbes, please… No, I don't want to talk to her _personally_, just tell her I won't be in school today… I'm sick." He paused, then added, "Probably not tomorrow, either… just tell her, willya?" He hung up.

"You always talk to your school like that?" Daniel asked, recouping slightly.

"Always." Jon's gaze fell on the children. "Hi guys. This must be confusing as hell, huh?" He said, his voice totally devoid of 'baby-talk' tones.

Gracie nodded, not taking her thumb out of her mouth.

"You're him." Jake said, "But how?" He paused, thinking for a moment. "Clone." He said, answering his own question.

"That happen where you're from?" Jon asked.

"No, it's just the most likely explanation," Jake said. Jon's eyebrows shot up in surprise and his eyes slid to Sam's.

Daniel's cellphone rang and he wandered away to answer it.

"Why are you here?" Sam asked.

"I was told to come here." Jon said mysteriously.

"Uh… Sam? General Hammond wants to talk to you." Daniel said, walking over to them, holding out his cellphone.

Sam took it and held it to her ear. "Carter."

"Major Carter, this is General Hammond. I take it you are at Colonel O'Neill's house?"

Sam took a deep breath. "Yes, sir."

But the dressing down did not come. "Good, I need you to come in."

"What about Gracie and Jake, sir?"

"Bring them with you."

"Yessir, Carter out." She hung up the phone and turned to Jon.

"What about you?" She asked.

"I'm coming with you guys." He said, delving into a pocket and holding up an SGC ID card, bearing his picture and name.

"Where did you get that?" Sam asked.

"Jack gave it to me," he grinned.

When the five of them arrived at the SGC, Teal'c was waiting for them in the briefing room.

Gracie immediately let go of Sam's hand and raced over to Teal'c, climbing in his lap.

"MajorCarter, DanielJackson, JacobO'Neill." He greeted.

"What about me, Uncle Teal'c?" Gracie demanded.

"GracieO'Neill," Teal'c said warmly.

"GracieO'Neill," Gracie mimicked smiling up at the huge Jaffa.

"Hey, T." Jon said, giving the Jaffa a small wave.

"O'Neill." Teal'c said, inclining his head.

"Wait," Daniel said, "you're not fazed by this?"

"Indeed I am not, DanielJackson."

Before Daniel could ask why, General Hammond entered the room. "Good morning SG-1, children. Please take your seats."

He looked up, noticing Jon for the first time.

"You have some explaining to do, son." He said. "Sit down."

Once they had sat down, General Hammond began. "At oh-seven-hundred hours this morning, Colonel O'Neill arrived at the hangar housing our X-302s." General Hammond said, "He apparently told the airmen there that he was there to test-fly one. He was last seen exiting the atmosphere."


	5. Chapter 5

Title: At What Cost?

Chapter: 5 of ?

Email: How much does it cost to keep saving the world?

Category: Action/Adventure/Romance

Rating: Teen

Pairing: S/J

Season: 7

Spoilers: After _Fallen_ and _Fragile Balance_, before any of the changes inflicted by _Chimera _and _Heroes_.

Content Warnings:

Archive: My Site: Yes

SamandJack: Yes

Anywhere else: Yes

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's Note: Again, sorry for the gap between updates. Real life getting in the way of my fic writing yet again!

There was silence around the table.

Finally, Sam spoke. "You knew." She said, looking at Jon.

He nodded. "I drove the truck back from there."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Daniel demanded.

"You never asked." Jon defended.

"That doesn't excuse it, son." Hammond snapped. "Just what does Colonel O'Neill think he's doing?"

"His job." Jon snapped back.

"His _job_ is to follow orders!"

"Whose orders?" Jon challenged.

"His superiors'!" Hammond said. "Colonel O'Neill's actions are at best irresponsible and at worst, utterly reckless. I might even go so far as to say stupid!"

"My daddy is not stupid!" Gracie yelled.

There was a loud crash and the crackle of electricity in the corner of the room.

Everyone turned to stare at the sound.

The computer that usually resided on the desk in the corner of the briefing room had exploded.

"Uh… Uncle Daniel?" Jake's voice made them turn back to the table.

"Yeah?"

"Did you happen to have any Ancient artefacts on that table. As in _The_ Ancients?"

"I think there was a fragment of something…" Daniel said.

"Yeah," Jake said, "That'd do it."

"What just happened?" Sam asked.

"Gracie got upset." Jake said, shrugging as though that were all the explanation necessary.

"And…" Jon said, making a 'continue' motion with one hand.

"When Gracie gets mad, stuff blows up." Jake said. "Usually Ancient stuff, but sometimes Goa'uld stuff too." He pronounced Goa'uld properly, like Sam did, rather than the way Jack did.

"How?" Hammond asked, all too aware that Gracie was still glaring at him fiercely.

"Something to do with the mixing of mom and dad's DNA." Jake answered. "With the whole Jolinar thing from mom and the Ancient thing from dad."

"Ancient thing?" Daniel and Jon asked in unison.

"Yeah." Jake said, staring at them as though they were aliens. "Dad's got the whole Ancient gene thing goin' on." He paused. "You guys didn't know that?"

"We did not." Teal'c said.

"That's right!" Jake exclaimed suddenly, "They only found out 'cause Gracie was born. The Asgaard came to visit and told them about how the mix of Tok'ra and Ancient DNA with human made Gracie special… different. That's why the NID were after her."

"Daddy had to go do something important." Gracie said, still glaring at the General.

"What makes you so sure of that, honey?" Sam asked.

Gracie shrugged and put her thumb back in her mouth.

"She just... _knows_ this stuff sometimes. What people are feeling. She's weird." Jake said, shrugging again.

"Am not." Gracie said, her voice distorted by her thumb.

"Yes you are." Jake argued.

"'m _not_."

"Are too."

"Kids." Sam said. She didn't raise her voice, but both children stopped immediately.

General Hammond raised an eyebrow at this and shared a look with Daniel.

"Why did Colonel O'Neill come to you?" Hammond asked Jon, obviously deciding to discuss Gracie at a later date.

"'Cause amongst the mess of dumb ideas in my – his – head is this idea that he should do as you tell him." Jon said. "No matter how dumb your orders from above are."

"O'Neill wishes for you to carry out General Hammond's orders in his place." Teal'c said.

Jon nodded.

"While he does what?" Hammond asked pointedly.

Jon shrugged. "Cant help you there, George. He wouldn't tell me."

The General looked like he was about to take issue with Jon's use of 'George' but was interrupted by Walter Harriman bursting through the door.

"Sergeant this is a classified briefing!" Hammond began.

"I know, sir, but you have to come quickly!" Harriman said, out of breath from running. "We've detected the X-302 Colonel O'Neill uh… borrowed."

There was an immediate rush for the door.

When the room had cleared of everyone, General Hammond found himself sitting with Jake O'Neill.

The General himself preferred to wait until the initial SG-1 blur had gone past, but he was used to waiting alone.

"What's wrong, son?" Hammond asked the boy.

"Nothin'." Jake said, shrugging.

"You get that a lot?" Hammond asked.

Jake looked up, confused. "What?"

"The irresistible urge to behave like your father." Hammond said, smiling genially.

Jake smiled ruefully. "Guess so." He admitted.

"Now tell me what's wrong before we join the others." Hammond said.

"I'm worried about Gracie." Jake said, adding, "And mom."

The General nodded. "I understand." He said gently.

"You're not mad at mom, are you?" Jake asked.

"Because she spent last night with Jack?" General Hammond asked. Jake nodded. "No." Hammond admitted.

"It'll destroy mom and Gracie if he gets himself killed." Jake said, speaking more to the table than to Hammond.

"And you?"

Before the boy could answer him an SF exploded into the quiet briefing room. "Sir! You have to come to the control room immediately!"

General Hammond raised an eyebrow at the way the younger man addressed him, but Jake said, "Its dad."

General Hammond nodded and the pair of them stood and hurried towards the control room.

Sam had hustled Walter out of his chair and was typing furiously.

"What's happening, Major?" Hammond asked, as Jake sat down beside Sam.

"I'm not sure, sir. The X-302 Colonel O'Neill's piloting keeps reappearing and disappearing on our scanners. He must be using that experimental cloaking device they were working on at Area 51."

"How did he get his hands on it?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't know, sir."

Jake, however, turned and looked up at the General with an amused look on his face. "He's _Colonel O'Neill_." He pointed out. "Who's gonna tell him he can't take anything?"

"Have the Goa'uld picked him up yet?" Daniel asked.

Sam shook her head. "If they have, they aren't doing anything about it."

The machine started to beep.

"What's that noise mean?" Daniel asked.

"It means he's fully visible to the Goa'uld." Sam said matter-of-factly.

"The cloaking device failed?" Hammond asked.

Sam tapped some keys on the keyboard. "I can't say sir." She said. "It doesn't look like it. It looks like he shut it off."

"Why would O'Neill do such a thing?" Teal'c asked.

Sam shook her head.

Daniel narrowed his eyes at the screen. "Is it me, or is he flying _away_ from the mothership?"

"This indeed seems to be the case." Teal'c said.

"The Goa'uld have spotted him." Sam said.

The people in the control room watched in horror as the mothership fired on the glider, making it explode and disappear from their screens.

Hammond found himself watching the faces of Jack's friends and… family… rather than watching the screen.

Teal'c tensed as the glider exploded, as though he were feeling the impact himself, other than that there was no visible reaction to the explosion.

Daniel was much easier to read. He'd known Jack the longest and his initial reaction was absolute horror. His mouth dropped open as though he wanted to speak, but nothing came out. Then his eyes flicked between the screen in front of him, and Sam, Jake and Gracie.

Hammond followed suit. Jake was standing up, one hand touching the computer screen, shaking his head in incomprehension.

Gracie was still sitting on the other side of Sam. Her thumb was in her mouth and her other hand idly played in her hair. She didn't look upset, confused, but not upset. Hammond guessed she was too young to really understand what had happened.

General Hammond finally forced himself to look at Jack's second in command.

Sam's hands still rested on the keyboard in front of her, her eyes were still on the screen. Her expression was even more inscrutable than Teal'c's.

"Sam?" Daniel said, breaking the silence.

She shook her head slightly, bringing herself out of whatever place her mind had been inhabiting.

"C'mere, Jake." She said, reaching forwards and pulling the boy back into her lap.

Jake turned to face Gracie. "I told you! I told you he'd just get himself killed!" He yelled, tears coursing down his face.

"Shh," Sam said, still staring vacantly at the screen.

Gracie removed her thumb from her mouth. "He's not dead."

"Shut _up_, Gracie!" Jake growled. "He's dead, and so are we!"

"Jake." Sam admonished gently.

Hammond found himself staring at her, waiting for a reaction.

"He's not dead." Gracie said again.

Jake pushed himself up from Sam's lap. "You're nuts, Gracie, you know that?" He turned and stormed out of the control room.

"Jake!" Daniel yelled after the boy.

"Let him go, Daniel." Sam said quietly.

"Indeed. There is much of his father in JacobO'Neill." Teal'c said.

"What now?" Sam said, turning to face General Hammond.

"What now?" Daniel repeated. "We just watched Jack die and you want to know _what now_?"

"We have a job to do, Daniel." Sam said.

Daniel just stared at her, open-mouthed.

Jon spoke quietly, "She's right, Daniel. We have to stop those motherships getting here."

General Hammond joined Daniel in staring at them for a moment.

"General?" Sam asked, rousing him.

He shook his head, clearing it. "We'll proceed with the original plan. SG-1 will go on board the _Prometheus_ to intercept the motherships. We have fifteen X-302's in the docking bays of the _Prometheus_." He paused. "Minus one."

"Right." Sam said. "When do we ship out?"

"In two hours." General Hammond said, as if reading by rote.

"Who gets command?" Jon asked.

"I hadn't thought about it." General Hammond said.

"Carter should command the mission."

Sam turned to look at him. "Why?"

"Because I'm fifteen years old?" Jon asked, spreading his hands.

General Hammond nodded. "I agree. We will make arrangements for Gracie and Jake-"

"No." Gracie said, using the same quiet tone she had used to assure them that Jack wasn't dead. "We have to be on the ship. Both of us."

"I'm afraid I can't let that happen, sweetheart." Hammond said.

"You have to, George." Gracie said. "We have to be on that ship or the mission will fail."


	6. Chapter 6

SG-1 were in their gear up room, getting ready to depart for Area 51. Seeing as time was of the essence they had to get ready at the SGC, then go to Area 51 and get straight on the Prometheus.

Gracie and Jake sat on the bench in the middle of the room, while the adults dressed in silence in their cubicles.

When they had first entered the locker room they had been confronted by Jack's locker.

There was a sizeable dent in the door.

They had left the locker room and entered the SG-1 gear up room without talking. Even Gracie and Jake were silent.

SG-1 and Jon were dressing in black SGC battle fatigues. Since there were no fatigues small enough and they had no spare clothes, Gracie and Jake were still wearing what they had arrived in.

Gracie was dressed – rather incongruously – in a blue summer dress and tiny combat boots. Evidently she'd had to put the boots on in a hurry when Anubis attacked.

Jake seemed to have inherited his dress sense from his father. He wore jeans with a t-shirt that was at least one size too big for him. His clothes were grubby, and it came to Sam that the reason Gracie was so clean was that she had probably been carried much of the time, probably by Jake, who was tall for his age and could lift her easily.

"Sam?" Daniel asked.

Sam came back to herself and realised she must have been staring at Jake and Gracie. Jake who was glaring at the floor and Gracie who was quite happily surveying the room around her, with a worried glance at her brother every now and then.

Sam nodded at Daniel to reassure him. "Let's go."

The crew of the Prometheus were surprised, to say the least, when SG-1 walked on board.

First they were met by the formidable figure of Teal'c stalking onto the bridge as though he were securing the area.

He was followed by Dr Jackson, who was nowhere near as geeky as he used to be. Jackson was walking alongside a lanky kid who was vaguely familiar to Colonel Ronson, the commander of the Prometheus, but he couldn't quite place him.

Behind Jackson and the boy came Major Carter. This in itself was not unusual. She was a member of SG-1, after all.

But walking on either side of her were two young children. The older of the two, the boy, was staring listlessly at the floor as he walked the proverbial black cloud low over his head.

The girl was walking confidently looking around her and smiling at the airmen and women on the bridge, who were staring at her.

"Colonel Ronson." Major Carter greeted, coming to a halt alongside Jackson, Teal'c and the boy in front of Ronson.

"Major Carter." He returned. "Teal'c, Dr Jackson." He paused, pointedly looking at the boy, who raised an eyebrow.

"O'Neill." The boy supplied. "Jack O'Neill. Colonel. But I'm incognito."

"But…"

"He's a clone." Gracie told the colonel helpfully, beaming up at him.

"O'Neill's clone?" Ronson found himself asking.

Gracie nodded gravely. "Daddy's clone." She disengaged her hand from Sam's and stuck her thumb in her mouth, still looking around the ship inquisitively.

Gracie's comment almost gave Ronson and his crew whiplash.

"Daddy?" Ronson said, staring at the little kid.

"That's a nice sentiment, Ronson, but you're a little old." Jon said.

Sam glared at him.

"Colonel Ronson, this is Jake and Gracie. They came though a quantum mirror from an alternate reality. They are the children of the alternate Colonel O'Neill and the alternate Major Carter." Sam said all this without a breath. "Any questions?"

Ronson just stared at Sam for a minute, not quite open mouthed, but it was obvious he could have easily been so.

Finally he recovered. "SG-1," he said, stepping back so that he could address them all. "We heard about what happened to Colonel O'Neill," puzzled glance at Jon, worried look at Gracie, who smiled around her thumb, and Jake, who ignored him. "And I would just like to say-"

"With all due respect, Colonel," Sam interrupted, "I should get the kids settled in some quarters and we should get the mission underway."

Again, Ronson stared at her momentarily. "Uh… yes. Of course, Major. Dismissed."

Sam nodded and walked past him with Gracie and Jake, headed for a door on the other side of the bridge.

After he was sure she'd gone Daniel said, "Nice recovery."

Colonel Ronson nodded, "Thanks." He looked around at his crew. "To your stations, people." He turned to Jon. "What's the deal here?"

"Carter's in command of SG-1, I'm just along for the ride."

"What do we call you?" Ronson asked.

"Jon." Jon replied. "Teal'c might have a little trouble with that, but I can probably live with it."

"What's with the kids?" The Colonel asked.

Jon looked at Daniel, he could see he was about to try to explain what Gracie had said, so he cut him off, saying, "Better they're here than down there."

It wasn't much of an explanation, but Ronson nodded anyway.

The communicator on the console beeped.

"Colonel?" His second in command called Ronson's attention away from the two remaining members of SG-1 and Jon. "Its ground control, sir." She said as Ronson reached her.

"Show time." Jon said under his breath.

Sam had installed the children in some quarters and was currently sitting beside Jake on the bottom bunk watching Gracie play quietly on the floor.

How Gracie was managing such an effective game with only a shoe and a pen was beyond Sam, but she seemed to be enjoying herself immensely.

"She gets it from him. I don't get it either." Jake said quietly, not taking his eyes from his sister.

"You reading my mind?" Sam asked, amused.

Jake shrugged.

They sat in silence for a while.

"They're waiting for you to break, you know." Jake said, his voice the same flat monotone he'd been using since Jack had died.

"I know." Sam replied.

"You won't, will you?" Jake asked.

"No." Sam replied. "I can't."

Daniel, Jon and Teal'c were sitting in the mess. It was almost empty apart from them, and the few crew members that were in there seemed to be avoiding them.

Jon was fiddling gloomily with a spoon. "I thought the threat was imminent." He grouched. "Imminent as in 'here'

"Patience, O'Neill." Teal'c counselled stoically.

"Maybe the wait wouldn't be so hard if I didn't get the impression that the crew were practically running away from us." Daniel said, equally as gloomy as Jon.

"Their behaviour is understandable." Teal'c said. "We have just witnessed the death of O'Neill."

"You'd think you'd be a bit more cut up about that." Jon said, finally looking up from his spoon.

Something flashed across Teal'c's face for a moment and was gone, just a flicker of emotion. When he spoke his voice was soft, rough, as though covering some deep feeling. "Indeed I am most distressed at the loss of O'Neill. But you are still with us, and now is not the proper time for mourning."

"I take it you don't believe Gracie, then?" Daniel asked.

"You sayin' you do?" Jon countered.

"No, I'm just asking."

"GracieO'Neill has just suffered a great loss." Teal'c said slowly, as though he were still working this out for himself. "She may be correct, and she may not. Stranger things have happened."

Both Jon and Daniel smiled at this.

"What do you think?" Daniel asked Jon. "You were the last one of us to see Jack alive."

Daniel was still having trouble separating Jon from Jack. He had to look at the boy when he spoke to him to remember to call him Jon.

Jon looked uncomfortable. "I don't know. He didn't tell me what his plan was." He paused. "If it was me-"

His hypothesizing was cut off by the ship lurching suddenly, and the emergency alarm sounding.

"Emergency! Emergency! All hands report to battle stations!"

"What was that?" Daniel asked, rising.

"We've been hit!" Jon yelled over his shoulder as he ran for the bridge.


	7. Chapter 7

Title: At What Cost?

Chapter: 7 of ?

Email: How much does it cost to keep saving the world?

Category: Action/Adventure/Romance

Rating: Teen

Pairing: S/J

Season: 7

Spoilers: After _Fallen_ and _Fragile Balance_, before any of the major changes inflicted by _Heroes_ or _Chimera_.

Content Warnings: None

Archive: My Site: Yes

SamandJack: Yes

Anywhere else: Yes

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's Note: Thanks for all the feedback. 

The bridge of the _Prometheus_ was a hive of anxious activity.

Jon, Daniel and Teal'c stood in one of the doorways, standing out in their SGC uniforms.

As they watched the crew they were joined by Sam and the children.

"The _Prometheus_ has never been involved in a combat situation before, has it?" Jake asked.

Sam shook her head.

"They're panicking." Jon said.

"Wouldn't you?" Daniel asked, apparently forgetting who he was talking to.

Jon looked round at him, "No."

Gracie tugged at Sam's arm. "Mommy."

"Is there nothing we can do?" Teal'c asked.

"We'd just be in the way." Jon said.

"Mommy." Gracie said again, a little more assertively, as the ship was rocked by another shot.

"What is it, honey?" Sam asked.

Gracie pointed out of the main viewscreen.

The mothership was huge.

"It's Anubis." Daniel said.

"We have to-" Gracie said. "We have to-" She was apparently having trouble articulating exactly what it was they had to do, so she grabbed Sam's hand and tugged, trying to draw her back into the corridor.

"Gracie?" Sam asked.

Jake seemed to understand his sister's intention. "She's right. You should get armed." He said. "This isn't going to work." He indicated the _Prometheus'_ crew.

"What good will that do?" Daniel asked.

Jake turned to answer him, but it was Jon that spoke. "It means that when they board us, we'll be able to fight them."

All the way to the armoury Jake had been in a state of near-catatonia. If he thought about it, Jon realised that the silence went back to when they had watched the 302 blow up.

The ship had gone eerily silent. The alarm had been turned off and there had been no more explosions.

While SG-1 and Jon armed themselves, Gracie and Jake stood silent.

Gracie had her eyes closed and her head cocked to one side as though she were listening.

Jake was staring at her.

Sam clipped her P-90 into place and turned to look at her children.

"Gracie?" She asked, seeing what the girl was doing.

Gracie made no indication that she had heard her.

Jake pushed her slightly, making her rock.

"Jake!" Sam admonished.

"They're not on the ship." Gracie said. "We have to go."

"What?" Jon asked.

"She's weird. I told you." Jake said.

"We have to go." Gracie repeated.

Sam crouched down in front of the little girl. "Gracie, look at me, honey." Gracie opened her eyes. "Where do we have to go?"

"Over there." Gracie told her pointing to her left.

"What's over there?" Daniel asked.

"The X-302 bays." Sam said.

Gracie nodded. "We have to fly."

"If we take gliders out we can distract the motherships from the _Prometheus_. Give them time to regroup." Jon said.

"Yes." Gracie said.

"Not you, Gracie." Jon said firmly.

"You're not my daddy." Gracie snapped.

Jon snorted his amusement at that. "No but I am – slightly – older than you. It's dangerous."

"He's right, Gracie." Sam said.

"Its gonna be more dangerous here." Gracie said. "Tell them, Jake."

"You should probably listen to her. I know it sounds stupid, but she's usually right about this stuff." Jake said.

The ship rocked.

"They are attacking again." Teal'c said.

"We have to go or we'll die here. We have to get on the big ship." Gracie said.

"The mothership?" Jake asked. "Gracie, are you sure about this?"

The girl nodded.

"Why?" Sam asked, still crouching in front of Gracie.

"Because." Gracie said. Huge dark eyes looked up at Sam. "Believe me."

It had been decided. Daniel and Teal'c took one glider; Sam and Gracie took one; and Jon and Jake took one.

The plan – if you could call it that – was to try to distract the mothership's attention from the _Prometheus._ Easy.

They also had to stay alive, and that wasn't going to be so easy.

For about the millionth time Jon wondered whatever had possessed Carter to bring Gracie and Jake along.

Jake.

The boy had been silent since he got in the ship, refusing to say a word.

"Kid." Jon called softly.

"Yeah?" The boy answered, reluctantly, and somewhat resentfully, if Jon were any judge.

Jon sighed. "You're angry at him."

"How come it's so easy for you?" Jake asked.

"What is?"

"Not to be him."

Jon shrugged. "Not much choice?" He tried.

Jake shook his head. "I think it's easy 'cause _he_ doesn't want to be him." He said.

'_Great,'_ Jon thought, _'now he's psychoanalyzing me – him – **us**'_ He shook his head, as though to clear it.

"Why are you so quick to say that Gracie's wrong?" He asked.

"'Cause she is." Jake said, reminding Jon that he was only ten.

"C'mon, kid. You're smarter than that. You have a better reason."

"No one could have survived that." Jake conceded his 'better' reasoning.

"The 302 didn't make any evasive manoeuvres." Jon said, almost casually.

Jake was silent for a moment. "No," he said slowly, "it didn't." He paused for a moment. "You think he wasn't on it?"

Jon shrugged and put his communicator on.

'_What am I doing?'_ Sam asked herself. Out loud she said, "You okay, Gracie?"

"Yes, mommy." Gracie said. "We'll be okay, you know." She added after a pause.

"I hope so." Sam said.

"DanielJackson, are you prepared to depart?" Teal'c asked, hearing Daniel strap himself in.

"Yeah, Teal'c, I'm good to go." Daniel answered.

"You are aware that, if we are captured, there is a good chance we will see Osiris?" Teal'c asked.

"Yeah, I thought of that." Daniel answered quietly. "I'll be fine, Teal'c."

Teal'c inclined his head.

Jack crept through the ship. Since he had jettisoned the 302 six hours earlier, he'd managed to place several charges _and_ avoid detection.

Not bad considering he'd had to shut down the ship's internal sensors when the stolen Tok'ra isotope had worn off without Carter's help.

Better keep it quiet that he could do that at all, he didn't want to have to make it a habit.

Carter. Sam. She thought he was dead right now, just like everybody else. A dead idiot who couldn't follow orders.

Lucky he hadn't, all things considered. Having had a good look around this ship – the biggest mothership he'd ever seen – he'd realised that even without the Eye of Ra thingy this ship was a formidable beast. The _Prometheus _didn't stand a chance against it.

Not until they got better shielding technology, anyway.

He seriously hoped that he'd be able to blow the mothership before it damaged the _Prometheus _too much.

There was no way he could have gotten SG-1 to pull out of the mission without arousing suspicion.

This really sucked.


	8. Chapter 8

Title: At What Cost?

Chapter: 8 of ?

Email: What price freedom?

Category: Action/Adventure/Angst/Romance

Rating: Teen

Pairing: S/J

Season: 7

Spoilers: After _Fallen_ and _Fragile Balance_, before any of the major changes inflicted by _Heroes _and _Chimera_.

Content Warnings: None

Archive: My Site: Yes

SamandJack: Yes

Anywhere else: Yes

Disclaimer: Only the story is mine. (Gracie and Jake belong to Jack and Sam.)

Author's Note:

Jack keyed in the sequence he knew would open the door. The small sign on the wall next to it said - in way too complicated a fashion, in Jack's considered opinion – that it opened into an anteroom that led to the bridge.

As the door began to open Jack moved to the side, just in case there was someone in there.

Making sure no one was coming out and hearing no sounds inside, Jack moved in stealthily.

There was no one in the anteroom.

"Odd." Jack remarked, needing to hear something out loud.

As he moved forwards he had an unparalleled view of the bridge. It was empty.

Jack cocked his head to the side. "Odder." He concluded finally.

He checked his watch. The _Prometheus_ should be arriving about now. Probably best not to be on the bridge when Anubis discovered he was under attack.

He'd watched this anteroom, though. No one had come in here, and from the looks of the room no one had in a while.

Well, he had other places he had to plant explosives, he could create a diversion and come back here later.

Two hours later Jack was back in the anteroom. He had heard the Jaffa talking about their attack on the Tau'ri vessel and had decided that now was as good a time as any to come back up here.

He had been hiding in the anteroom for about fifteen minutes when one of the Jaffa announced that a teltac bearing Baal would be docking with the mothership.

Anubis and a detachment of Jaffa went to meet Baal, leaving the bridge empty except for two Jaffa.

Jack was just about to detonate his 'small distraction' ('_a whole lotta C4'_) when one of the bridge consoles started bleeping.

"What is that?" One of the Jaffa asked the other.

"There are three Tau'ri gliders headed for us." His companion replied. "Should I destroy them?"

"No." The superior Jaffa said. "Lord Anubis and Lord Baal want Tau'ri prisoners. Lock the tractor beam on to the gliders and bring them in."

"Lord Anubis will be proud of your initiative." The subordinate said, following his orders.

When they had successfully brought the gliders in, the Jaffa went to bring the prisoners to the bridge.

Satisfied that the bridge was now empty, Jack sneaked through the door separating the anteroom from the large chamber.

As he moved towards the main control console he wondered who the prisoners could be.

Couldn't be SG-1. They were under orders to stay on board the _Prometheus_, and Sam wouldn't defy her orders.

Jack planted his C4 under the control console and looked around the room.

He spotted the throne and strode towards it. As he passed through the centre of the room he saw a ring on the floor. It looked like something he had seen before… a containment field.

Jack stored it in his memory and continued across the floor.

'_Carter won't disobey her orders, she's too smart for that.'_

As he reached the throne a new thought occurred. '_This the same Carter that broke regs with you just last night?'_

"Shit." He whispered. Then he shook his head and stuck some C4 under Anubis' throne.

There was the sound of booted feet in the corridor outside.

Jack froze.

He looked around the room desperately, trying to find somewhere to hide. He could hear them keying in the sequence on the door pad.

Just as the door slid open Jack rolled under one of the side consoles.

Realising he was still holding a block of C4, he reached up and stuck it to the underside of the console he was laying under.

"Move, Tau'ri!" He heard one of the Jaffa growl as they entered the peltac.

From the sound of the boots it was just the two original Jaffa that had brought the prisoners in. That was good.

Under the console, Jack said a silent prayer. _'Oh god, please don't let it be-'_

"You know, we're SG-1. We're used to better treatment than this." That was Daniel. "Right, Teal'c?"

"Indeed."

"Filthy cells, crappy food, torture… the whole nine yards." Daniel continued conversationally.

"Indeed," Teal'c intoned again.

'_They have been spending **way** too much time around me,'_ Jack thought.

"Silence!" One of the Jaffa snapped.

"The guys have got a point there," That would be Jon. "You're not just dealing with any Tau'ri here. You'd think Anubis'd wanna meet these guys at the door."

"Silence!" The Jaffa snapped again.

"You guys still goin' with the whole '_silence'_ thing?" Jon again.

Under the console, Jack grimaced. '_Shut **up**_ _kid.'_

"Cut it out, guys." Carter. Sam.

'_Crap.'_

Jack tried to shift position soundlessly. He needed to see into the room. Besides that, his back was starting to ache.

As he settled he looked up and saw Gracie staring straight back at him.

Jack froze, afraid she'd do something to alert the others to his presence.

Afraid she'd call attention to herself.

Why was she here? That must mean that Jake was here too.

What was Sam _thinking_?

Gracie just smiled at him and put a finger to her lips.

She was sitting cross-legged on the floor. She looked happy enough.

"Why does the female child sit on the floor?" One of the Jaffa demanded.

Gracie grimaced and sent Jack a little smile before rising and rushing over to a pair of boots that Jack deduced were Sam's.

"Leave her alone." Sam and Jake said simultaneously.

The Jaffa seemed about to question his prisoners when the doors to the peltac opened again.

"Lord Baal arrives." The subordinate Jaffa said.

Jack heard Gracie whisper, "_Told_ you, Jacob."

Jack reasoned that the prisoners must have all been herded into the containment field, as the Jaffa were both headed for the door, to greet Baal, presumably.

"Told me what?" He heard Jake hiss back.

"Kids. Not now." Sam said.

Gracie, however, wouldn't be told. "He's alive." She said conversationally.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Shh." Gracie said.

There was a sound of footsteps, heavier than those of the Jaffa, and Baal entered the room. Jack glared at his feet.

"Aah. SG-1." Baal said, sounding pleased. "Plus some… others."

"Hi." Jon said and Jake said at the same time.

"What about you? Don't you want to greet your god?" Baal asked, stepping close to Gracie.

"You're not my god." Gracie said. "You're not even _a_ god."

"Such impertinence from such an adorable child. I take it she belongs to you, Major Carter?"

Sam must have looked taken aback that he could recognise her so readily, because Baal said, "Yes. We have never met, yet I know you. You are a member of SG-1. O'Neill's team. Where is he, by the way?"

No one answered him.

"It does not matter." Baal said. "No, we have not met." Baal went on, "but you two are familiar to me." He moved, turning slightly, "You are too obviously related to O'Neill." Speaking to Jon then.

"Cloned, actually." Jon said.

"A clone? How… distasteful." Baal said.

"Well, I gotta say… I'm not real pleased to see you either," Jon said, "guess we'll just have to try to get along."

'_He's trying to distract Baal's attention from the kids.'_ Jack thought gratefully.

"We will not need to get along. You will only live long enough to see your planet destroyed."

"It won't be destroyed." The voice was low and certain. And it belonged to Jake.

"I fail to see how _you_ are going to stop it." Baal said disdainfully.

"I'm not." Jake said casually.

"He's right," Gracie said. "My daddy will."

"Your… father?" Baal seemed confused for a moment. "Of course. I see the resemblance now. Anubis will be pleased." He turned, apparently to speak to his Jaffa. "Go and tell Lord Anubis that we have SG-1. And with them we have the children on the one called O' Neill. Who I suspect will show himself shortly."


	9. Chapter 9

As one of the Jaffa left to carry out his orders, Baal turned to the remaining Jaffa, "Take them to a cell and ensure they are securely locked in."

"Yeah, wouldn't want us escaping too, would you?" Jake sneered.

Jack's breath caught in his throat as he watched the pair of feet belonging to Baal stride towards those belonging to Jake.

"Such insolence." Baal said.

"You think that was insolence?" Jake asked. "You don't know the meaning of the word… yet."

Baal was silent for a moment and Jack imagined him throwing the boy across the floor and silently cursed Jake for being so… like his father. '_Dammit!'_

But Baal stepped back. "Take them away!" He snapped.

Jack watched as several boots belonging to the Jaffa Baal had brought with him led the boots belonging to his friends and family away.

"Well, this is more like it," Jon said, as they were herded into a filthy cell.

The cell door slammed behind them and the Jaffa moved to the only exit to the anteroom, all without being drawn into a slanging match with O'Neill the younger.

Sam, Jake and Gracie moved to the back of the cell and sat down on what was possibly the most uncomfortable prison bunk Sam had yet encountered.

Teal'c stood by the cell bars, apparently on guard, although he always seemed to look that way.

Jon sank down opposite Teal'c, stretching his legs out in front of him and fiddling with the Velcro cover on his watch – already bored.

Daniel began to pace the cell. Having known Daniel for seven years, Sam was puzzled at this. He wasn't a pacer. He would usually sit and talk to Jack for a while, trying to convince his friend to do something. At the very least he'd be talking to the guard – pleading their case.

"Daniel?" Sam asked softly.

Daniel stilled for a moment. "You said he was alive." He said, directing the statement at Gracie.

The little girl nodded.

"Well, we're gonna need a miracle to get out of this."

"Don't paint it so black, Daniel, that's my job." Jon drawled idly from his seated position.

"I'm serious," Daniel insisted. "This is like when Apophis attacked Earth – the first time. But this time there isn't anyone here on our side but us. I'm just saying that it would be a good thing if Gracie was right."

"I am." Gracie said quietly.

"Do you believe her?" Daniel asked Sam.

When Sam didn't reply Daniel forged ahead, "I mean, we have no reason to believe that she's right – do we? She said we should leave the _Prometheus_ and now look where we-" He fell silent as the looks on his friends' faces sunk in. They weren't looking at him, they were looking _beyond_ him. He turned.

Jack was applying explosive to the lock on the cell door. Daniel stared open mouthed as the door swung open. "Jack?"

Daniel's voice seemed to break the spell that had fallen on the other occupants of the cell.

As one man Teal'c and Jon stepped forwards. Jon walked out of the cell and started to check the area immediately outside. Teal'c grasped Jack's forearm. "O'Neill," the Jaffa acknowledged.

Jack nodded to his friend and Teal'c followed Jon.

Daniel walked out of the cell. "I can't believe you tricked us like that, Jack."

"I had to." Jack replied. Daniel realised this was all the apology he was likely to get for being led to believe his friend was dead and moved out of the way of the door.

Sam, Grace and Jake were still standing in the centre of the cell.

"C'mon," Jack said beckoning, "we have to move."

Gracie was the first to leave the cell. She walked out of the cell as if she didn't have a care in the world and grinned up at Jack. "Hi daddy."

"Hi Gracie." Jack replied, smiling back at the child. Then he turned his attention to Sam and Jake. "Sam?"

Sam just continued to stare at him mutely. Jack held her gaze for a few moments. "Come on, Carter," he said softly, "Gotta go save the world. Again."

Sam nodded slowly and began to walk out of the cell. She stopped when she realised that Jake had not followed her. "Jake?"

Jake was standing where she'd left him. Dead centre of the cell, glaring at Jack. Sam looked from the boy to Jack, wondering what she should do.

"Go," Jack said, laying a gentle hand on her arm.

Sam nodded and moved past him to the doorway of the antechamber, where Daniel, Teal'c, Jon and Gracie were waiting.

Jack walked into the cell. "You coming, kid?" He asked Jake, his tone offhand.

Jake glared up at Jack.

"Problem?" Jack asked, raising one eyebrow.

Jake didn't deign to speak to Jack.

"You think I was wrong to do what I did." Jack stated. "You think I should have said something."

Jake nodded.

"What would have happened if I did?" Jack asked. "You don't have to answer me, just think about it for a minute."

Jake appeared to consider it. Gradually the hard line of his features softened.

Jack nodded. "You're a smart kid."

Jake glared at him again.

"Still mad at me, huh?"

"Yes." Jake said quietly.

"Later, kid. We've got work to do now." Jack said, not unsympathetically.

Jake nodded and moved to walk past Jack and out of the cell. He paused as he reached Jack's side. Jack looked down at him curiously just as Jake reached up and took his hand.

Jack nodded and they walked out of the cell, joining the others by the door. Jake let go of his hand as Gracie sent him a smug look and Jack smiled to himself.

"So… what's the plan?" Jon asked.

"I've got C4 rigged to blow in-" Jack glanced at his watch. "Two hours thirty-three minutes."

Jon nodded. "C4 on a mothership. Sounds familiar."

Jack sent him a mock-glare. "If it ain't broke…"

"Um…" Daniel interjected, waiting for both Jack and his clone to look at him before continuing, "Don't you think we should try to get out of here? If it's about to explode?"

Jack, Jon and Jake rolled their eyes simultaneously, but before any of them could speak Gracie said, "Well _obviously_, Uncle Daniel," and sighed dramatically.

Sam snorted, trying to stifle a laugh.

"We should get to the glider bays immediately." Teal'c said.

Jack swept out an arm, "After you."

Teal'c nodded regally, "Indeed."


	10. Chapter 10

Title: At What Cost?

Chapter: 10 of 11

Email: What price freedom?

Category: Action/Adventure/Drama/Romance

Rating: T

Pairing: S/J

Season: 7

Spoilers: After _Fallen_ and _Fragile Balance_, but before any of the major changes inflicted by _Chimera _or _Heroes_.

Content Warnings: None

Archive: My Site: Yes

SamandJack: Yes

Anywhere else: Yes

Disclaimer: Only the story belongs to me.

Author's Note:

"What's going on?" Daniel asked, slowing his pace slightly to walk at Sam's side.

"Where?" Sam asked, trying to keep one eye on the children in front of her and the other on her surroundings.

"Back there," Daniel said, jerking his head back towards where Jack was walking beside himself.

There appeared to be some sort of hushed argument going on between the two O'Neills.

"I don't know." Sam admitted.

The argument had started about five minutes after Jack had assigned walking positions. Sam had tried, but could hear nothing but vicious whispering.

Suddenly, that was no longer a problem.

"Yeah? Well you were the one that disappeared in the night without saying anything! What was I supposed to do?" That was Jon, not yelling, but clearly wishing he could.

"You were supposed to take care of them!" Jack hissed back, just as audible as his clone. "Not let 'em get caught up in this!"

"If you think you'd've done a better job, maybe you should have stuck around, instead of running off on your own." Jon snarled.

They lapsed into a silence that was somehow even tenser than their whispering had been.

"Think you can take 'em?" Jack asked, looking up at Teal'c.

They were standing in a side door that led to the glider bays. About ten yards away from three Jaffa guards.

Teal'c nodded and Jack waved a hand, giving the go ahead. "I'll watch your six," he said. The journey here had not been as difficult as it could have been, Jack reflected as his friend moved to a better position to fire on the guards. The Jaffa seemed to be being kept busy with Baal and Anubis and their destruction of Earth. Without his altercation with the teenaged version of himself the journey would have almost been pleasant, bringing back as it did memories of the first time that SG-1 had been successful in saving both the world, and the SGC.

Teal'c zatted two of the guards before they realised what was happening, Jack fired on the third before he could even shout.

Jack, Sam and Teal'c did a quick recon of the glider bay while Jon and Daniel stayed with the kids. Then Sam returned to the others while Jack and Teal'c began to start up the four gliders they would need to get out of there.

As they hurried across the glider bay towards Jack and Teal'c, Sam felt Gracie's hand slip out of her own. She stopped and turned. "Gracie?"

The little girl was frozen on the spot. Her eyes closed, her skin deathly pale with fright. Jake appeared at Sam's elbow and called to his sister.

When she didn't respond Jake took a step towards her. "Please, Gracie. We have to go." There was a note of pleading in the boy's voice that Sam had never heard there before.

Suddenly Jack appeared. He stalked past them and swept Gracie up into his arms, only somewhat hindered by the fact that the little girl didn't relax into his embrace. "Let's go," Jack said to Sam and Jake.

"Too late," Gracie said quietly, "they've been watching us from the start."

"What a talented little girl you are," came a familiar, and entirely unwelcome voice. Immediately Jack's P-90 and Sam's 9mm were aimed in the direction of the sound. Teal'c, Daniel and Jon appeared at their sides, also armed, their positioning boxing Jake in, protecting him. Gracie was still held in Jack's arms.

The speaker appeared from behind a glider. Baal strode towards them, stopping a few yards away. Behind him was Anubis, who in turn was flanked by about five Jaffa guards. "I must say, O'Neill, your progress aboard our ship has been very entertaining. And we have your… family… to thank for that entertainment. We didn't find you until you found them."

Jack slid Gracie to the ground and pushed her towards her brother, who grabbed her and dragged her into the protective circle formed by the adults.

"Put the weapons down," Baal ordered.

"Uh… no." Jack and Jon said simultaneously.

"Oh, really, I already sense this clone thing will prove to be a bore." Baal said wearily. "You have nowhere to go, nowhere left to run."

Beside her, Sam heard Gracie whisper to her brother. "Get down."

As the children lay on the floor, Jack and Jon opened fire on the Jaffa guarding Anubis and Baal, closely followed by Sam. Teal'c and Daniel remained where they were, guarding the others' flanks.

Baal looked at the fallen Jaffa distastefully. "No matter. We have other Jaffa, not that we have need of them." He shook his head. "We have the power of the Ancients O'Neill. You cannot stop us. There is nothing you can do to prevent the destruction of your world."

"You talk too much," Jack said.

"Why not just kill us already and get it over with?" Jon asked.

"Stupid," Baal said. "You are still looking for a way out. There isn't one."

For the first time, Anubis spoke. "You are still alive because it is not necessary that you die. We prefer you to live and watch the destruction of your planet and those you love."

Baal stepped forwards. "Hand over the children and we will allow you to live." Anubis' hood turned sharply to look at Baal, as though he wanted to say something, but he remained silent.

Jack and Sam's weapons were both aiming directly at Baal's chest. "Not a chance in hell," Jack snapped.

Baal laughed. "You have no alternatives! We will kill you and take them." He raised his arm, the hand device he was wearing glittering in the lights of the glider bay. The hand device gathered power from Baal but before it could harm Jack, Jon stepped in front of him.

Baal laughed as the younger O'Neill's face contracted in pain. Jack fired at him, catching the System Lord across the chest. The beam from the hand device snapped off, allowing Jon's body to fall to the ground. Baal stumbled holding himself upright against the strut holding a glider in place. Jack glared at him grimly as gold light flashed in the System Lord's eyes as his symbiote died, followed closely by its host.

Anubis' cowl turned to look at the body of his subordinate. Then turned back to look at O'Neill, who was helping Jon up.

Jack sensed danger. No one knew the limit of Anubis' powers, and certainly something had happened between the System Lord and Daniel when the latter was ascended.

Anubis raised his hands and pushed them towards Jack and Jon. Both O'Neills went flying through the air, crashing into one of the gliders.

Anubis stepped towards Jake and Gracie and Sam, Teal'c and Daniel stepped swiftly in front of the children.

Anubis swept a hand to one side and all three members of SG-1 went flying.

Gracie reached up and pulled her brother down beside her once more as Jack and Jon opened fire on Anubis.

The bullets seemed to have no effect on the System Lord, who kept moving towards the children.

Finally Jon and Jack moved forwards as one, Jack grabbing both children and pushing them behind him and Jon moving towards Anubis, trying to stop him.

"Jon!" Gracie screamed, just as Anubis made a snarling sound and hurled the boy high up into the air, bringing him down to the deck with such force that Jon's neck snapped.

Jack stared down at his clone, at the sickening angle of the neck, knowing the boy was dead.

Jake yelled something unintelligible, just as Daniel yelled "Jack!"

Jack's head snapped up. Anubis was advancing on him, clearly wanting to get closer for _this_ kill. Jack fired at Anubis, but his bullets were absorbed harmlessly by the System Lord's shield.

Gracie screamed.

Suddenly, Anubis stopped, apparently unable to progress any further towards Jack.

The cowl moved around, as though searching for something. Then its gaze fixed on Gracie. The little girl wrenched herself away from her brother and walked towards Anubis, still screaming, only falling silent when she stood directly in front of the System Lord.

"Gracie," Sam called, terrified. But Jack waved a hand to silence her, not taking his eyes from the little girl.

Anubis looked down at Gracie, who glared defiantly back up at him.

Anubis waved a hand at the girl and Sam felt herself flinch, expecting Gracie to go flying, the way she had just a moment ago. But Gracie just stood there, with her hands on her tiny hips and a bored look on her face.

Anubis waved his hand several more times, seemingly incredulous that it wasn't working. Then he turned slightly towards Sam, to see if he could throw her across the room.

"No!" Gracie said sharply, and pushed both her hands out towards the System Lord.

Anubis went flying backwards landing several yards away from Gracie. He lay prone on the floor for several moments before Gracie moved towards him, flanked by Jack.

Gracie extended a tiny booted foot and kicked Anubis in the side. The cloak and cowl collapsed, empty. Anubis was dead.

"But… how?" Daniel's voice came from close-by Sam and he spoke in quiet wonderment, but Jack heard and replied.

"No time for that," he said, looking at his watch. "We gotta go."

He took Gracie's hand gently and pulled her away from Anubis, towards the gliders he and Teal'c had prepped what seemed like centuries ago.

Everyone turned to follow him, but Jake noticed Daniel still staring at the black cloak.

"I told you," he said.

Daniel turned and looked down at Jake.

"Gracie's special."

"Did you know she could do that?" Daniel asked.

Jake shook his head. "We wouldn't be here if we'd known she could do that." He said sadly. There was an awkward pause, then Jake said, "Let's go home."


	11. Epilogue

-EPILOGUE-

SG-1 sat around the briefing room table in the eerily silent SGC. It was 0300 hours and no teams were scheduled in or out, due to the previously imminent threat of Anubis' attack. A threat that General Hammond was just confirming as defunct.

Sam was sitting next to Jake, who had fallen asleep with his head on the table. Sam absent-mindedly stroked his hair. Across the table from her, Jack was sitting back in his chair with Gracie curled up in his arms, the little girl was wide-awake, staring at the table, unseeing. She had been that way since she had killed Anubis, and Sam couldn't help but be worried. Looking at Jack, she could see he was worried too. Knowing him, he had already found some way to blame himself for this.

Jack looked up and his eyes met Sam's. He held her gaze for several moments. There were still so many questions between them that needed answers and they hadn't had even one chance to talk since he had rescued them from their cell on the mothership. Hoping to express her own feelings, Sam smiled at him reassuringly. Jack smiled back and looked back down at Gracie.

General Hammond entered the room and Sam got to her feet. The General looked at Jack who had not stood and nodded his understanding of the Colonel's reason.

"At ease, Major," Hammond said, taking his seat at the head of the table. "We have confirmed that the two motherships headed for Earth have exploded," he began.

"That must have been a huge deja-vu," Daniel said.

Hammond nodded. "Now, I'd like to know what happened over the past couple of days. Colonel?"

"Sir?" Jack asked, all innocence.

Hammond's impatience showed in his face, but not his voice, "What in the world made you steal an X302 and attempt to stop the attack single handed?" he asked quietly, mindful of the sleeping child at the table. His quietness couldn't mask his anger, but Sam got the feeling that the anger was borne out of worry, rather than exasperation at Jack's non-compliance with his orders.

"General," Jack began, then faltered, "you know why, sir," he said, looking down at Gracie then across the table at Jake. "Plus, the other plan, I knew that was never going to work."

"You've been extremely lucky, Colonel," Hammond said, "If you hadn't pulled this off, the pentagon would be all over you right about now. As it is, we are all, once again, in all of your debt." He paused, and took on a more genial tone. "Now, tell me what the hell happened. Tell me how this little girl," he nodded towards Gracie, "could take Anubis out, when nothing else could."

SG-1 were silent, unable to give an answer. Then Daniel spoke, "Jake told us," he paused, "Gracie's special."

Hammond sighed. "Tell me exactly what happened."

It was an hour later.

Sam was speaking, "And he just… died, sir. I don't know what Gracie did, but he was gone."

"So," Hammond said, "Am I to understand it that neither Baal nor Anubis are a threat any longer?"

"No sir," Jack said, "they're not."

"Because of your… daughter?" Hammond said, after only the tiniest of pauses.

Jack and Sam shrugged.

"I'll tell the president." Hammond said. He looked at Gracie, "How are you?"

Gracie was silent for a moment. Then she raised her eyes from the table and looked straight at the General. Sam almost gasped at how much older the little girl looked now. Then Gracie smiled and the shadow was gone, "I'm ok, George." She said.

Hammond appeared to study her for a moment. Jack was staring intently at the top of Gracie's head, while everyone else looked on in amazement. Gracie had not spoken since Anubis' death, and now she seemed fine.

"I'm ok. _Really._ ," Gracie insisted, as though sensing their thoughts, "I've been thinking it over and he was a bad man. He's much better off this way. He can't hurt anybody anymore."

Jack gave a half smile and stroked Gracie's hair, nodding to Hammond. The General held Jack's gaze for a moment, questioning his second in command, then he nodded too, trusting Jack's instincts.

"All that remains now is what to do about you two." Hammond said, his tone making it clear that he wasn't talking about Jake and Gracie.

Daniel spoke up. "Surely they can get a special dispensation of some kind, General? Circumstances don't come much more special than these." He waved a hand in the general direction of Jake and Gracie.

Sam noticed that at some point while they had been talking, Jake had awoken and was now only pretending to be asleep.

Hammond held up a hand. "Doctor Jackson, please."

Daniel fell silent, only for Teal'c to speak. "I for one will be forced to leave the service of the SGC if two such fine parents are forced apart."

Sam blushed and looked down at the table. Looking up at Jack from under her eyelashes, she saw he was trying not to smile and occupying himself with stroking Gracie's hair.

"Especially because of some rule made obsolete by the work we do here." Daniel piped up, earning himself a stern look from General Hammond.

Hammond sighed again. "Neither of you have said what it is you want." He said to Sam and Jack.

Sam opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Jack, "Time, sir. We want time."

Hammond looked between them then nodded. "Okay. SG-1 are on two weeks downtime. Call it a reward, for saving the world again." The General stood and everybody else followed suit, Jack lifting Gracie with him.

Sam gently shook Jake, knowing no one was supposed to know he had been awake. The boy did a pretty good impression of someone just awaking out of deep sleep and Sam had to stifle a grin.

"I expect you both to be off the base within the next two hours," General Hammond said sternly, looking at Sam and Jack, who both nodded. "Dismissed."

Daniel and Teal'c filed out of the room, followed by Jake and Sam.

"Daniel, can you take Jake to the infirmary and have him checked over for me? I have some stuff to do before we leave." Sam asked.

Daniel nodded but Jake pulled a face. "Do I have to be checked _again_?"

"Yes, you do." Sam replied, "I'll meet you in the commissary in an hour and we'll go home." She looked up at Daniel and Teal'c, "Tell the colonel, when you see him."

Daniel and Teal'c nodded and strolled off with Jake, still grumbling. Sam turned and headed in the opposite direction.

Back in the briefing room, Gracie slid down out of Jack's arms and walked over to where General Hammond was tidying his paperwork. "I'm sorry about the _Prometheus_, Uncle George." She said, putting her tiny hand on top of the General's.

"It wasn't your fault, Gracie, you don't have to apologise." Hammond said gently. His tone was the one he used when talking to his grandchildren. Jack was amazed at how quickly Gracie and Jake had worked their way into the hearts of everyone around them. But then, they would, wouldn't they? They _did_ belong here.

"I wanted to save them," Gracie said, sounding upset, "I did. But they were unsavable. If I had saved them, everybody else would be dead." She said the words in a comforting tone, as though explaining it all to the General. She sighed, "I am sorry though."

Hammond smiled at her and stroked her hair, "You saved the world, Gracie, that's more than enough for now."

The little girl beamed up at the General – a real Carter smile, Jack thought – then turned back to Jack. "What now, daddy?"

Jack stilled the flip of his stomach her words produced and said, "Infirmary for you, young lady. I want the doc to have a look at you."

"Is that where mommy and Jake are?"

Jack thought briefly about how she had almost seemed to read the future on the mothership. How she'd known both what was happening and what was going to happen in places she couldn't even see and wondered if she was just asking to be…normal. Looking at her, he knew she wasn't. Whatever 'powers' she had had on the ship had either left her or just plain didn't work here. He was glad. Aside from making his own life easier, he suspected hers would be better without the 'powers' too.

"I think so, sweetheart. C'mon."

It was two hours later and Sam had still not reappeared. Jack left the sleeping Gracie and Jake with Daniel and Teal'c and searched the base, looking in all her usual haunts. When he didn't find her he returned to Daniel's quarters.

"Anything?" Daniel asked quietly.

Jack shook his head. "No one's even seen her."

"I don't suppose she did a you and left already?" Daniel asked.

Jack glared at him briefly before shaking his head again. "Security haven't seen her."

"She'll turn up," Daniel rationalised, "Sam wouldn't leave these two here for no reason." He looked up at his friend. "Are you ok?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Jack asked, slightly too quickly for it to be believable that he had no idea what Daniel was asking about.

Daniel pressed ahead anyway. "The whole thing with Gracie killing Anubis…"

"She's fine with it, so am I. She was right anyway. He was evil. He had to be stopped and she did it. I'm proud of her and she's proud of herself." He looked over at the sleeping kids. "I'm proud of both of them actually."

"And the whole thing with Jon?" Daniel asked.

Jack stiffened.

"I'm sorry-" Daniel began.

Jack cut him off, "No, you just gave me an idea. I'll be back."

Sam was in the SGC morgue.

She really had had stuff to do, but it had only taken a half hour. Then she had come down here. At this time of morning it was empty and she was glad of t the seclusion.

She found the drawer marked 'O'Neill, J' and slid it out, pulling a stool up to it so she could sit for a while. She unzipped the body bag and looked at the still form on the slab.

She didn't know where this morbid need to see him had come from, but she knew she wouldn't be able to leave tonight until she had fulfilled it.

Jack had insisted on bringing the body back and Teal'c and Daniel had volunteered to carry it in their glider, so as not to upset the children. No one had questioned Jack bringing Jon's body home; they all knew why he did it.

She remembered Gracie walking over to Jon's body after she had kicked Anubis and kneeling down beside him, placing her little hands on either side of his head and closing her eyes as though concentrating intensely.

"What's she doing?" Daniel had asked Jake in a hushed whisper.

"Sometimes she can fix stuff. Cuts and bruises. I think she's trying to heal him." Jake had whispered back.

"Will it work?" Teal'c had asked, not whispering, but his voice pitched low enough that he wouldn't disturb Gracie.

Jake had shaken his head. "He's dead. And it didn't work on mom." He'd said sadly, then apparently remembering that Sam was standing next to him, he 'd added, "I mean before."

Sam had nodded. Then she'd looked up at Jack. He'd had his eyes shut tight against what he was seeing and feeling.

She'd reached out and touched his hand and his eyes had snapped open. He'd met her eyes for a split second then walked over to Gracie.

"Gracie, honey, there's nothing you can do here. Lets go home, baby." He'd picked her up and held her against him, but the little girl hadn't been crying, she'd already entered that state that Sam had feared was catatonia until Gracie spoke in the briefing room.

Then Jack had helped Daniel and Teal'c load Jon's body into their glider and they'd set off, just enough ahead of their explosions that they weren't caught in the blast, and they weren't followed.

In the morgue, Sam continued to study Jon's corpse, tears streaking down her face.

"Sam?" Jack's voice came from the doorway, but didn't startle her. She figured she'd been away too long and that he'd be the one to find her.

"It would have been you," she said quietly, "if he hadn't been there, it would have been you." She snorted bitter amusement, "It _was _you."

"I know."

"Looking at him now, I see two people," Sam continued, almost as though he hadn't spoken, hadn't admitted how easily it could have been him on this slab. "I see you… and I see Jake."

She sensed that Jack had moved and was standing directly behind her, so close she could feel the fabric of his BDU's against her own.

She turned on the stool and looked up at him. "I don't ever want to see either of you like this."

"As long as it's in my power to prevent it, you wont." Jack said.

Sam nodded, knowing this already, not needing to be told.

Jack leant past her and zipped up the body bag. Then he slid the drawer back into place. Behind him, Sam said, "I'm resigning my commission. I'm going to work as a civilian from now on."

"I would never ask you to do that." Jack said.

"I know."

"What now?" Jack asked.

"Where are the kids?"

"With Daniel, sleeping."

"Our daughter killed a system lord." Sam said, "She's only seven, Jack."

Jack cocked his head to one side, deciding it was time to bring her out of this funk. "Yeah well. You can't stop genetics."

Sam looked up at him, incredulous that he'd make a joke at a time like this. Jack stared back at her, unapologetic.

Then Sam grinned. "You're an ass."

"Carter," Jack said, scandalised, "that's no way to talk to me, even if you are a civilian!"

"Sorry." Sam said, "You're an ass, _Colonel_."

"That's better." Jack replied, grinning back at her.

"Are you ok?" Sam asked.

Refreshingly, Jack didn't pretend he didn't know what she was asking about. "He died doing what he wanted to do, Sam. He saved us, all of us. I'm not okay, but I know I'd have done exactly the same in his position, and I'm glad as hell that I didn't have to."

Sam nodded. "What about us? Are we in trouble?"

Jack shrugged. "I doubt it. But hey, we're on downtime. Let Hammond sort everything else out. Lets go get the kids and go home, I could sleep for a week."

"Okay."

They left the morgue together, collected their children and went home.


End file.
